{"id":651110,"date":"2026-06-21T20:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/651110\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T20:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:47:09","slug":"jack-draper-energised-for-return-at-eastbourne-with-inspiration-from-coach-murray-jack-draper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/651110\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Draper energised for return at Eastbourne with inspiration from coach Murray | Jack Draper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jack Draper believes his \u201cvery special\u201d relationship with Andy Murray and the faith the Scot has in him<\/a> will help him to find a way through the toughest period of his career as he returns to the circuit at Eastbourne after an injury-ravaged 11 months.<\/p>\n

Draper is due to compete for the first time in two and a half months at the Eastbourne International on Monday after being sidelined for the vast majority of the past year due to chronic arm and knee injuries. As he tries to be ready for Wimbledon<\/a>, which begins next a week on Monday, this will also be his first tournament since asking Murray, his childhood idol and a friend, to join his team as coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis tennis knowledge is incredible,\u201d Draper said of Murray. Of his own circumstances, he said: \u201cMy tennis is actually in a really, really good spot. [I have] lost a lot of confidence in my body over the last year that I\u2019m rebuilding back again.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving someone who believes in you as a person, as a player who\u2019s one of your biggest inspirations \u2026 I have a great relationship with him off the court \u2013 our relationship is very special \u2013 and that gives me a bit more energy, especially in a moment where I\u2019m coming back and I need to have that good energy around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year ago, it seemed as if Draper had finally found his way, a lengthy period of good health allowing him to rise up the rankings to a career high of world No 4. Instead, he has spent the past 11 months stuck in a cycle of injuries and pain. The 24-year-old last competed in early April at the Barcelona Open, where he retired because of knee tendinitis. His knee injury had come soon after a seven-month layoff due to a bone bruise in his left arm. He has fallen to No 113 in the rankings.<\/p>\n

Jack Draper goes to work under the watchful eye of Andy Murray at Eastbourne. Photograph: Charlie Crowhurst\/Getty Images for LTA<\/p>\n

Although he always thought he would come back, Draper admitted he was \u201cabsolutely not\u201d mentally OK over the past year. \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredibly difficult year,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m someone who\u2019s all-in with my tennis. I\u2019m obsessed with improving and getting better and being the best in the world and doing all the right things.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutside of tennis, there\u2019s not a lot going on for me. So it\u2019s obviously been very difficult, very isolated, a lot of tough days, a lot of training. As a competitor, all you want to do is feel the buzz of being out there competing. I\u2019ve had to be incredibly patient with my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Draper has had to come to terms with the fact his arm injury \u201cmight never go away\u201d but he is adamant he can have the career he deserves. \u201cI was top 10 in the world, doing great things, and you\u2019re losing your ranking every week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like a football team where you can have a substitute come in and take your place. It\u2019s like you\u2019re watching your decline. So it\u2019s tough, but I think I\u2019ve learned a massive amount about my body in the last year and my recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The silver lining for Draper is that he believes this period will give him the edge against his rivals. \u201cBefore, in the position I was, I still felt like maybe there\u2019s mental levels I needed to go to to get to where I wanted to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even though my ranking slipped and I haven\u2019t played, when you go through a lot of struggles and a lot of setbacks, it definitely gives you the mental fortitude to think: \u2018I\u2019ve got something a little bit extra to these guys because of what I\u2019ve gone through.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Draper believes his \u201cvery special\u201d relationship with Andy Murray and the faith the Scot has in him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-651110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}