Leading injury prevention and athlete welfare expert Stephen Smith has told Tennis365 the “challenge” Jack Draper is facing as he battles to return to action after a series of injury setbacks.
Draper has not played since he retired during his opening round match at the Barcelona Open in April due to a knee injury.
The British star confirmed he was dealing with an aggravated tendon in his right knee, and he has since pulled out of Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros and the Queen’s Club Championships.
When announcing his withdrawal from Queen’s, Draper revealed his plan to play at the ATP 250 in Eastbourne next week – the week before Wimbledon begins.
In 2026, Draper has played only nine matches across four tournaments and a Davis Cup tie.
The 24-year-old made a comeback in February following over five months on the sidelines due to a bone stress injury in his left arm — which ended his 2025 campaign in August.
Draper reached a career-high ranking of world No 4 in June after an excellent first half of the season, but he is currently 113th in the world after dropping a huge amount of points during the clay-court season.
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In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Smith – who is the founder and CEO of Kitman Labs, the world’s leading sports science and performance intelligence company – discussed Draper’s battles with his body.
“In general, recurring knee tendon related issues, the challenge isn’t just getting back onto the court once,” Smith said.
“Tendon issues are generally repetitive strain issues, they’re generally a build-up, an accumulation of load and pain, swelling, discomfort.
“The real question here is whether Jack Draper can tolerate the density of elite tennis. Consecutive training days, repeated matches, travel, changing surfaces, and recovery demands over time.
“His team will likely be focusing on restoring repeatability. They won’t just be thinking, ‘Can I get him back for this tournament?’
“They’ll be looking at, how do they restore that repeatability, train hard on consecutive days. Can he maintain movement quality under fatigue? Can he recover well day-to-day between practices and matches, so that pain that he’s getting from the tendon is not, let’s say, it’s not too much that he can’t actually tolerate load.”
Smith was also asked if it is concerning that Draper’s knee injury surfaced so soon after he returned from the bone bruising issue.
“If he has bone bruising and it’s right in the joint, it could also alter joint mechanics and movement mechanics,” Smith explained.
“And that means you try to take pressure off one area by moving slightly differently, and you put pressure on another area.
“So you can have compensatory conditions or secondary conditions that evolve from primary conditions. That’s not all that unique.
“I suppose it’s the tennis schedule, the demands that are being placed on him, all those things, it’s a bit of a crescendo, those things together. And it’s hard to break free from that.”
Draper’s arm and knee injuries are the latest on a growing list of physical issues he has been afflicted by in his short career to date. He was forced to miss spells of 2023 and 2024 due to abdominal and shoulder injuries, while hip tendinitis disrupted his off-season ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Smith has previously warned Draper’s career could be cut short
Speaking to Tennis365 last year, Smith admitted he was worried Draper’s career could be cut short if he continued to suffer such frequent injuries as he drew comparison with Juan Martin del Potro.
“I think it’s a sign that there’s something from a management perspective that’s probably missing there,” Smith said.
“Whether it’s having more or less of something, additional strength and conditioning work, adjustments to how he’s being managed through competitions, how is his practice loads being managed.
“Whether it is alterations to his biomechanics and how he plays the game. I think to have the injury history that he’s had at the age that he’s at probably needs to be cognisant of the fact that something needs to change now, or he’ll end up having a career that’s cut short.
“Think of someone like Juan Martin del Potro; incredible talent, with probably one of the most powerful forehands we’ve ever seen in the game, but his greatest strength ultimately ended up being one of his biggest issues. Had all of those wrist issues, had lots of surgeries on it because that wasn’t nipped in the bud.”
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