Jack Draper has withdrawn from the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club as the former British No 1 continues his recovery from injury ahead of Wimbledon.
Draper, who recently included Andy Murray in his new coaching set-up for the grass-court season, is poised to return at Eastbourne, which ends two days before play starts at Wimbledon.
The former world No. 4 has not played since mid-April, with his return from an eight-month arm injury hampered by a series of withdrawals.
The 24-year-old missed the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open and saw his hopes of competing at the French Open last month ended with a knee injury.
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Marion Bartoli and Colin Fleming react to the news that Jack Draper has been forced to withdraw from the French Open with a knee injury.
“[My] The recovery is going in the right direction but I will give myself another week and aim to return to Eastbourne,” Draper said in a statement to Sky Sports.
“Very hard to miss one of my favorite events of the year.”
Will Draper feel more pressure with Murray in his corner?
Andy Murray is to join Jack Draper’s coaching staff for the grass court season
British players are thrust into the limelight during the grass court season, but Sky Sports Tennis‘ Laura Robson wondered if the presence of Murray might have indirect consequences for Draper.
“In some ways it’s really beneficial to have Andy in his corner, but in other ways it’s also more pressure,” she said.
“I don’t know which way I’m leaning yet because there’s going to be so much attention now on the first match back, wherever that might be. It’s probably not going to feel great, considering he hasn’t played a lot of tennis. It’s been a tough time with injuries over the last almost a year now.
“Knowing when you go in that you’re expected by pretty much everyone to play well probably adds another layer to it, but I haven’t quite decided which way I’m leaning there yet.”
Four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman said: “I was a bit surprised that Jack and Jamie Delgado had split because they’ve been working together for a while but they haven’t had a huge amount of tournament time.
“We saw them in Indian Wells and Jack looked like he was playing well, so it was definitely a surprise for me.
“When I heard about Andy Murray coming in for the grass court season, I think it’s a great opportunity for Jack with Andy’s obvious experience as a home court player; Queens, Wimbledon, his record speaks for itself, so definitely a good opportunity.”
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