Australian Open 2025: Why Jack Draper had to retire against Carlos Alcaraz
Draper enjoyed the best year of his career in 2024 – winning his first ATP title, becoming British number one and reaching the US Open semi-finals – and was hoping to further improve his physical strength before the start of the 2025 season .
But his hip injury, which Draper says aggravated after “a week of pre-season” in December, ended those plans.
“Essentially I had tendinitis in my hip, which I had to get an MRI to look at,” he said.
“I have a history of problems in that area and it hasn’t gone away. I’m still dealing with that.”
“In pre-season, it went into my back and I couldn’t walk. It was really hard.”
Draper said he was unable to play for “about two to three weeks” before flying to Australia between Christmas and New Year.
He began hitting again at Melbourne Park before playing practice sets against Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner in the days before his opening match.
“You have to feel very sorry for him,” former British number one Annabel Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.
“Every time he comes back it’s a shock and you lose that speed and training time.
“A lot of players spend their entire year competing, resting and training, and they have to compromise all the time because their body is failing them.”
