Just weeks after criticizing tennis’ “mental” program, British No. 1 Jack Draper has withdrawn from a match in Tokyo due to what appeared to be an abdominal injury.
In all likelihood, the setback will force Draper to quickly return from Asia, where he had been entered into next week’s Shanghai Masters.
After that, he only has a few indoor events left on his schedule for what has been a make-or-break year: Vienna, which begins in just under a month, and the Paris Masters which closes the season. Despite this disappointment, he has already gone from 62nd in the world on January 1 to 20th today, winning a first ATP title in Stuttgart in the process.
Draper was trailing 2-1 by a set against Frenchman Ugo Humbert when he clearly had a physical problem. He didn’t wait long before heading to the net for a pessimistic handshake.
Draper has prided himself on a strong fitness record so far this season. “A big part for me is my health and staying on the court,” he said in New York earlier this month, after beating Tomas Machac to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open.
“I’ve worked really hard physically over the last year and a half to get my body to where it needs to be. We still have a lot of ups and downs, but one of our main goals was to get to the point where the consistency of my practice is very high. Everything falls into place.
However, Draper suffered additional stress going straight from his deep run in New York to the Davis Cup in Manchester, where he was successful. his comments on the schedule and suggested that “it’s going to be very difficult for players my age to achieve longevity.”
This is one of those periods – a fairly familiar phenomenon in tennis – where many players start to complain about their workload. This latest surge may have been driven by the expansion of several ATP Masters events into two-week tournaments.
In a lengthy message on the push for more players-friendly calendar is gaining ground. We, the players, know better than anyone what is needed, and we are now in a unique position to negotiate these changes.
No sensible observer could doubt that there is too much tennis, nor that the warring strongholds in this sport make it difficult to coordinate the different aspects.
However, some opponents tend to undermine their own arguments by cramming multiple exhibitions into their schedule. In the middle of next month, Djokovic will join Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune in Saudi Arabia for the unofficial “Six Kings Slam.”
