By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, December 26, 2025Photo credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography
Jack Draper’s Australian Open hopes are over before the tournament begins.
Indian Wells champion Draper announced he’s withdrawn from the 2026 Australian Open as he continues recovery from a left arm injury.
Though Draper said he feels he’s nearing the end of the recovery process, he concedes this injury has been “complex” and “challenging” and believes it would not be wise to try to play best-of-five-set AO matches without feeling his arm is completely healed.
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— jack draper (@jackdraper0) December 26, 2025
“Unfortunately, me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year,” Draper said in a video posted on X today. “It was a really, really tough decision.”
The left-handed Draper has been limited to one singles match since his Wimbledon loss to Marin Cilic last summer. Draper played the US Open mixed doubles event but was clearly compromised on serve and trying to hit overheads.
Draper conceded a walkover to Zizou Bergs before their scheduled US Open second-round clash in August and has not played since his US Open first-round win over Federico Gomez.
The Australian Open main draw is set for January 18th-February 1st. Ultimately, Draper said he’s just not physically ready to play a Grand Slam.
“Obviously, with Australia being a Grand Slam, it’s one of the biggest tournaments in our sport,” Draper said in his video on X. “However, I’ve had this injury for a long time. I’m at the very, very end stages of the [recovery] process and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like a smart decision right now for me and my tennis.
“I’ve obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks but by far, this one has been the most difficult, the most challenging, the most complex one that I’ve had.”
The 23-year-old Briton reached the AO round of 16 last January where he retired to Carlos Alcaraz trailing 5-7, 1-6.
Two months later, Draper defeated Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, in the Indian Wells semifinals then swept Holger Rune in the final, 6-2, 6-2, to capture his maiden ATP Masters 1000 championship.
Rune ruptured his Achilles tendon in October so neither Draper nor Rune, two of the sport’s bright young stars, will be playing the 2026 Australian Open.
