Is Jack Draper’s career in danger after he breaks down in tears in aborted comeback?
It was just too much for Jack Draper and when the reality of what was happening struck home, the emotions flowed out.
After a desperate year for the former British No 1 that has seen him battle an ongoing bone bruising issue in his arm, Draper had talked up his hopes of making a comeback at the Canadian Open in Montreal.
When he stormed back to win the second set in his opening match against France’s Terence Atmane, the 2025 Indian Wells Masters champion appeared to be finding his feet.
Yet it was clear from the start of the third set that something was not right with Draper, as his service speeds dropped and his body language confirmed he was in trouble.
Then at the change of ends with the score at 4-1 to Atmane, the enormity of what was engulfing him again overcame Draper as he broke down in tears.
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After all he has done to get himself back in a position to compete at the highest level of the game, Draper realised the arm problem that doesn’t appear to have any cure had come back to haunt him again.
He has been through so many different medical tests, tries every remedy imaginable and has even experimented with new strings and possibly even a new racket in recent weeks.
Yet none of if appears to be working for Draper and as he sat down in his chair his hopes of a comeback in tatters, TV cameras captured the moment as he cried uncontrollably.
It was hard to watch this fine young player who had the tennis world at his feet a year ago seemingly reaching a moment when he wondered whether he would ever recover the form and fitness that fired up him to No 4 in the world last year.
His 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 defeat against Atmane was almost irrelevant by the end as the bigger question for Draper and his fans was whether he would find a way to overcome a problem that appears to be only solved by long periods of rest.
“This is pretty emotional. He’s bent over and literally erupting with emotion here. It’s very, very upsetting to see,” said former British No 1 Annabel Croft. “I can only assume that the arm is hurting.
“He couldn’t hold it in and he let it all out. You just wonder what is going through his mind for all that emotion to be there.
“I think we both felt that it was to do with this horrible injury that might have reared its ugly head again, and the knowledge of what it’s taken for him to get out on court again.
“He actually played a very decent second set and it was looking fairly positive, but then there was this massive drop-off of pace on that serve.
“And it was very obvious very quickly that he was not going after big serves, he was rolling them in. He hasn’t really hit a serve since, and hasn’t really gone after any too many ground strokes either.”
Draper has been given a wild card for next week’s Cincinnati Masters and he was also expected to get a wild card for the US Open, but there must now be huge doubts over whether he will play again in 2027 as a period of rest and more attempts to solve this injury may be his only option.
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