Jack Draper has been forced to cancel his pre-season training camp with Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz due to a hip complaint.
Mail Sport revealed last month that Draper was due to test his mettle against the world No3 in Alicante next week, but he said on Wednesday: ‘I have a niggle in my hip area and in terms of going to Spain and training at that level of intensity with Carlos, I had to make that call because it’s not fair on him if I go and I’m not 100 per cent.
‘I hope it’s just a short-term thing. I don’t think it’s anything too serious but it’s important I look after my body, and don’t do anything to potentially make it worse and jeopardize the start of my season.
‘It’s obviously very disappointing, we were really excited about getting that exposure to the highest, highest level possible to get prepared for the new year.’
It has been a breakthrough season for the British No1 with the first two titles of his career, in Stuttgart and Vienna, and a run to the US Open semi-finals which leaves him at No15 in the world. His avowed mission for 2025 is to chase down Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz at the top of the game, and in that context a week with the Spaniard would have been extremely valuable.
But Draper need look no further than the recently-retired Andy Murray for evidence that hip injuries in tennis players are not to be trifled with.
‘At this stage of my career, what’s most important is I can have a long career,’ said the British No1. ‘Many athletes over the years have these little niggles at a younger age, they don’t do much about it, they don’t explore it, and then it becomes a big problem when they get older. And if they had managed that specific area better it would have saved a lot of time off.’
Jack Draper will sit out a planned pre-season training camp with Carlos Alcaraz in Alicante
The British No1 was keen to hone his skills against the Wimbledon champion but has suffered a hip complaint
Draper led journalists on a Memory Walk along the banks of the Thames to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society
Draper was speaking before leading us in a Memory Walk along the banks of the Thames to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. It is a cause dear to the 23-year-old’s heart as his grandmother Brenda suffers from the disease.
‘Now she’s just at home,’ he said of Brenda. ‘She’s not in pain, she’s pretty content but just kind of sat there and needs to be fed. I’ll definitely see her before I leave for Australia. I always feel a bit guilty when I’m away.’
