Andy Murray's Surprising Wimbledon Confession: Jack Draper's Injury Struggles After Just Nine Matches This Year

ANDY MURRAY has no concerns about Jack Draper’s long-awaited return to the match court next week and claimed: He is a complete tennis player.

Unlucky Draper, 24, has been since last summer, with issues in his left arm, knee tendon and shoulder – he has played just NINE matches in 2026.

Andy Murray is not worried about Jack Draper’s return to the court Credit: Getty Draper has only played nine matches this year Credit: EPA

Everyone connected with British is hoping he will play at and those working at Eastbourne are waiting white smoke from his team about his participation on the south coast next Monday or Tuesday.

For the grass-court season, hired Murray, 39, for his guidance and technical nous — they have trained together at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre — but so far they have not been together for a single match.

His last appearance, in fact, was pulling out of the Barcelona Open with an injury on April 13.

, on a rare trip to Queen’s Club, told SunSport: “Jack is supposed to be playing in Eastbourne next week.

“He’s been training and getting ready for that. He’s been on the court most days for the last few weeks.

“His tennis is bloody good. He’s really good. Obviously he’s had lots of issues the last year with various injuries.

“And I feel like he’s starting to come out the other side of that now.

“The next step is obviously getting on the match court and getting a consistent run of tournaments and weeks under him and building trust again in his body.

Draper has struggled with injuries Credit: Getty

“But from a tennis perspective, from what I’ve seen on the practice court, I’ve got no concerns there.

“He’s a lot better than what I thought. And I thought he was bloody good before I started helping him.

“He’s a quick learner. He’s got very few holes in his game. He’s a more complete player than probably what I expected as well.”

Murray – a father of four – retired at the Paris 2024 Olympics and swapped the tennis racquets for the golf clubs.

There was a brief coaching spell with old adversary , which took place at the 2025 , and he said that was too good an opportunity to turn down despite his desire to stay in the UK.

While the partnership with Draper could extend into the North American swing of the calendar, in July and August, the Scotsman says his priority is being at home for his family.

The two-time Wimbledon champion said: “I was quite clear with him that I’m not going to be on the road travelling.

“I still want to be able to pick my kids up from school, drop them off at home.

Draper hired Murray for his advice on grass courts Credit: PA Murray is prioritising his family Credit: PA

“If that wasn’t something that worked for him, then that was also absolutely fine. But I said I’d still love to help you if you would like that.

“He’s asked for me to help him over this next period. I’ve enjoyed being on court with him. We’ll see how the next few weeks pan out.”

Murray – one of the hardest-working players of his generation – reckons it will not be a strange experience to sit in the players’ box on Centre Court, even though he used to grace the hallowed turf below as a player.

The former world No.1 said: “I didn’t find it weird when I was watching matches with Novak.

“The build-up to the matches and stuff I found quite hard. Because you need to get your communication with the player right.

“And to make sure that everything is under control.

“Making sure you’ve got the right courts booked, practice partners, balls, racquets, strategy. All of those sorts of things. You want that to go smoothly.

“And then once the player is out on the court, I found it quite easy.

“I found the pre-match stuff harder than sitting in the box watching and observing a tennis match and trying to be objective about it.

“I didn’t feel like I got too emotionally invested in the matches where I couldn’t think. I didn’t find it that weird watching. To be honest, I quite liked that part of it.”