It would have been almost impossible last season for any keen tennis fan to imagine Jack Draper plummeting outside the top 100 in a year’s time, the moment he clinched a career-high ranking of fourth in the world on June 9th, 2025.
But that is the stark reality the Briton now faces, after enduring a largely miserable 2026 campaign on the ATP Tour.
Draper recently used the term ‘rock bottom’ to describe his current situation, and it’s hard to argue with that considering his ATP ranking fell to the lowest it has been since 2022 earlier this month.
The current world number 143 has spent large portions of the season sidelined with injuries, particularly the recurring bone bruising in his left playing arm, which kept him out of action from August 2025 until February this year.
How concerned are you that injuries could disrupt Jack Draper from reaching his full potential?
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom for Draper, who defeated Novak Djokovic at the Indian Wells Open in March and reached the semifinals of the Eastbourne Open.
However, injury flare-ups have meant Draper has had to miss every Grand Slam so far in 2026, as well as three tournaments at ATP Masters 1000 level.
How Jack Draper should go about his schedule in the near future
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Draper’s new ranking is that he does not gain automatic entry into big tournaments.
Just recently, Draper missed the 104-place cutoff for main draw entry into the US Open, meaning he will have to come through qualifying or receive a wildcard to feature in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
Which begs the question: how does Draper go about his scheduling for the rest of the year?
Hopes of receiving wildcards for every big event will slowly start to fade with every first-round exit he suffers, and having to qualify for those competitions requires more matchplay with an already injury-prone body.
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After the conclusion of the US Open, there will be just two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments left in the season: Shanghai and Paris.
Every player wants to compete on the biggest stages in the sport, but it might be wise for Draper to forgo both the Shanghai and Paris Masters, as well as any ATP 500 events that remain.
The reason? To finally get some wins under his belt.
While the injury setbacks have a lot to do with Draper’s poor performances, so too does the lack of both confidence and matchplay.
He will likely correct those two issues down at the ATP 250 level, the lowest of the three rungs in the tour’s ladder.
Excluding the upcoming Winston-Salem Open, in which Draper is not entered, there are six ATP 250 events from now until the end of the season, starting with Chengdu and Hangzhou.
- 23rd of September – Chengdu Open and Hangzhou Open
- 19th of October – Almaty Open, Lyon Open and European Open
- 8th of November – Stockholm Open
One or two deep runs at those tournaments, and perhaps even a title, might be exactly what Draper needs to kick-start a resurgence.
Greg Rusedski suggests Jack Draper should play Challenger events
Should Draper feel the need to go even lower than ATP 250, he can always enter Challenger Tour events, which former British player Greg Rusedski suggested he should do.
“I’d be very surprised if he plays the US Open,” said Rusedski in a recent episode of his podcast, ‘Off Court with Greg‘.
“I was surprised that he played in Cincinnati, to be quite frank with you, especially with the scenes we saw.
“The previous match he played in Montreal and the way he was feeling, he was emotionally drained from the whole situation.
“It doesn’t look like he’s got the power on the serve, the arm. Question is, it looks like he needs to get some time away and probably step away from the main tour and maybe build up on the Challenger Tour and get some matches.
“But first things first, he’s got to get the body, the arm, everything back to where it needs to be. Because health is your wealth and he doesn’t seem healthy.
“He needs to find a solution for this. And I don’t know what the solution is right now because mentally and physically it’s hard to keep on playing the way he’s doing.
“And the only person who knows the answer is him and his team. And we talked about it last time. He’s got to find a solution.
“He’s got to have someone who gives him a protocol. You’ve got to do this, this and this. Take this much time away. This is how we build it up. And this is how we hopefully get you back. I mean, it’s very disappointing.
“And he must be the most frustrated person. If we’re frustrated watching him as a fan, I mean, inside for Jack, this must be extremely difficult to handle.”
While Draper is yet to confirm his spot in the main draw of singles at the US Open, he is set to compete in the mixed doubles event alongside WTA star Jessica Pegula, whom he teamed up with last year.
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