Jack Draper’s off-season plans have hit a snag, as the British tennis star was forced to cancel his much-anticipated training trip to Spain. Originally, Draper had intended to join forces with Carlos Alcaraz and rising Italian talent Flavio Cobolli at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s tennis academy in Villena, Alicante. However, a “physical mishap” during his final training session before departure has disrupted those plans, according to Marca.
While Draper will miss out on this opportunity, Alcaraz is still set to continue his preparations, with Cobolli joining him in Spain. Alcaraz, who is ranked world No. 3, reportedly began his pre-season training this week after returning to Spain following a series of exhibition matches in New York and Charlotte. He and Cobolli will start their training together on Thursday.
Draper had been gearing up for a promising off-season following a breakthrough year in 2024. The 22-year-old Brit ended the season at a career-high No. 15 in the world, a dramatic rise from his starting position at No. 61. The year was marked by several standout performances: he reached the final in Adelaide, secured his first ATP title in Stuttgart by defeating Matteo Berrettini, and pulled off a stunning victory over defending champion Alcaraz at Queen’s Club. His win over the world No. 1 at the time was one of the biggest of his career.
Later in the season, Draper made his Grand Slam breakthrough, reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, where he impressed by not dropping a set before falling to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. He then capped off the season with a massive victory in Vienna at the ATP 500 event, defeating Karen Khachanov in the final to claim the biggest title of his career.
Reflecting on his successful season, Draper expressed his satisfaction with his progress and sent a message to the top players in the game, including Alcaraz and Sinner. “I’m really happy with the way I’ve progressed this year,” Draper shared in a post-Vienna press conference. “It’s been a long year, and it’s taken a lot out of me, but I’ll refresh and come back next year with even bigger motivation to really shake up those guys at the top.”
Draper is confident that continued physical improvement and more experience competing against the game’s elite will give him the tools to challenge for even bigger titles in the future. “If I can keep improving physically and gain more experience at this level, I’m going to give myself a shot to hopefully be competing with those guys,” he added. “But there’s still a lot of work to do.”