A lot can change in one year in tennis. While the past year has only strengthened the iron grip of Carlos Alcaraz And Jannik sinner on the men’s circuit (and the immortality of Novak Djokovic), the wheel of potential challengers has spun again and landed on new names.
Last year at this time it was Great Britain Jack Draper. He reached his first major semi-final at US Open in 2024 and continued his meteoric rise from there, beating Alcaraz to Indian wells before winning his first Masters title under the Californian sun. A run to another Masters final in Madrid followed; this summer he was ranked fourth in the world.
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But already things were starting to deteriorate. His short senior career had already been stalled several times by injury, and persistent pain in his all-important serving arm, which he first felt during the clay-court season, turned out to be a bone bruise, a problem that seems harmless compared to a torn ACL, but which refused to go away.
The rest of his 2025 was fragmented. A good grass swing came to a screeching halt with a second-round loss at Wimbledon. He did not play singles again until the US Open, where he played only four sets, then withdrew before the second round. One step forward, two steps back.
Its 2025 season ended in September; the break continued through the Australian Open – going from zero to best-of-five was obviously a bad idea – and he only returned to the ATP Tour in Dubai last month. He has won one and lost one ATP match this year. This is not an auspicious start to the title defense.
Jack Draper became the fifth Briton to win a Masters 1000 trophy – and enter the top ten – with victory at Indian Wells (Getty Images)
Draper comes to Indian Wells after a year of changes, both on and off the field. He has a new coaching organization, having given up the services of longtime coach James Trotman late last year and brought in Jamie Delgadobest known for coaching Andy Murray to a second Wimbledon title and year-end number 1 in 2016.
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He signed a new clothing deal with California brand Vuori, worth an estimated $5 million, and launched a YouTube documentary series with his sponsor detailing his comeback. Venturing into other areas – he is also an ambassador for Burberry – has provided him with an outlet off the field, but is also indicative of how players have increasingly become commodities and the extent to which young players at all levels are now taking control of their image, with career longevity never guaranteed.
His physical difficulties have obviously been a source of enormous frustration, and are undoubtedly reminiscent of the problems which hampered him earlier in his career. The 24-year-old plays with enormous strength: a whip-cracking forehand and a violent serve that puts strain on the body. A growth spurt in his late teens and bulking up over the past two seasons have made him a more complete player, but it comes at a cost, almost as if the speed of that improvement has outpaced his body’s ability to cope with it.
Draper made his comeback at a Davis Cup qualifying event before returning to the ATP Tour in Dubai (Getty Images for ITF)
But this long absence gave him time to work on his game and get back to basics. He has a remodeled serving position and said before Indian Wells: “I’ve worked a lot on my transition game, my volleys. And I’ve actually hit more serves than I’ve ever hit because I’m hitting them at 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent and so on.”
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While these changes can complement a game that has so far been largely power-based, it could conversely make him a heightened threat against players like Alcaraz and Sinner – players who are difficult to beat physically off the field. And it can also improve their physical resilience. Delgado also brings extensive experience working with injury-prone players, from the famously squeaky Murray to Grigor Dimitrov.
In California last year, Draper was part of a new generation in charge; this time he’s sort of a stranger. He did not benefit from a favorable draw, with Djokovic being his likely quarter-final opponent.
Draper defeated Alcaraz en route to his biggest title to date at Indian Wells last year (Getty Images)
He sounded both confident and realistic during his pre-tournament press conference, as if he was trying to convince himself as much as the media watching him. He said: “I feel like I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be in the tournament, if I didn’t feel like I could go all the way,” before adding: “I recognize that I’ve been away from the game and it’s a bit of a level-up to come right back into it after so much time without playing. So let’s see what happens. I don’t overthink things.”
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Last year’s finale offered a cautionary tale. It was a lopsided affair as Draper cruised past another bright youngster and former Masters champion, Holger Rune, in straight sets. The 22-year-old is another who has been tipped to challenge the duopoly of Alcaraz and Sinner, another to reach the top ranking of No. 4 and another victim of the brutal impact of the tennis circuit on athletes’ bodies. The Dane suffered a horrific Achilles injury in October and has been sidelined since then.
The tennis circuit needs serious reform to avoid putting even more young talent through the meat grinder, but that’s a topic for another day. As it stands, Draper is in a position he’s been in many times before: out of injury hell, but with a long road ahead to return to his best.
His own stratospheric rise over the past two seasons, followed by all the frustrating setbacks, will no doubt have given him a more realistic and pragmatic view for this season than simply charging in, desperate to defend his title. It may be that instead of a glorious new dawn, this Indian Wells campaign will be something less flashy but more lasting: two steps forward, and perhaps only one step back.
