Jack Draper is on course to return to competition next week, with Andy Murray saying the British player has been practising on court most days and is supposed to play in Eastbourne. Murray’s update is the clearest sign yet that Draper could be back in action before Wimbledon.
The timing matters because Draper has not played since the Barcelona Open in April and has slid to No. 113 after being ranked fourth last year. He has spent the last month working with Murray at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre as an adviser and temporary coach, with the pair trying to rebuild match sharpness after a run of knee, elbow and shoulder problems.
Murray said Draper has been training and getting ready for the comeback, adding that he has been on court most days for the last few weeks. He also made clear how highly he rates him, saying Draper’s tennis is “bloody good” and that he believes the 22-year-old has very few holes in his game.
That assessment carries weight because Murray is not coming at this as a distant observer. He retired after the Paris Olympics in 2024 and coached Novak Djokovic for four months at the start of 2025, so his judgment on what it takes to return to top-level tennis comes from inside the game. Even so, his confidence is tempered by the reality Draper faces: getting back on court is one step, but proving he can handle the density of elite tennis over consecutive days is another.
That is the gap that still hangs over the comeback. Draper’s latest setback has been linked to his serving shoulder, and his recent injury run has already wiped out months of momentum. Murray said he feels Draper is starting to come out the other side of it now, but the schedule leaves little margin for error. Eastbourne is next week, Wimbledon follows immediately after, and Draper still has to turn practice into a match without another interruption.
Arthur Fery’s progress at Queen’s Club offered a reminder of how quickly things can turn in tennis. The world No. 140 overcame Adrian Mannarino to reach his first ATP quarter-final, even after his left nostril started to bleed heavily at 1-1 in the second set and he needed treatment from a physiotherapist. For Draper, the next week carries a different kind of pressure: less about a result than about simply making the start line.
