Tennis: British number 1 misses Australian Open due to injury.

Jack Draper, the current British number 1, has confirmed that he will not compete in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, in January next year.

The 23-year-old English tennis player continues to recover from an injury to his left arm, suffered during the last US Open. “It’s a really difficult decision, because the Australian Open is a Grand Slam tournament, but I’ve had this injury for quite some time. I’m in the final stages of recovery and returning to the courts to play best-of-five-set matches so soon doesn’t seem like a sensible decision at this point,” Draper explained on social media.

A former world top 4 player, the Briton currently occupies 10th place in the ATP ranking. In 2025, he reached the round of 16 in Australia ( withdrew due to injury against Carlos Alcaraz ) and won the Indian Wells Masters 1000 , having also played in the final in Madrid and Doha.

The Australian Open will be played between January 12th and February 1st next year. Italian Jannik Sinner has won the last two editions of the tournament.