Jack Draper's comeback from a prolonged injury nightmare took a painful turn at the Canadian Open in Montreal, where the British 24-year-old was reduced to tears during a 6-3 2-6 6-2 defeat to France's Terence Atmane in the first round.
Draper had not played since June, sidelined by a persistent arm injury that began at the 2024 US Open when he hurt his shoulder. The problem spiraled into bone bruising that forced him to withdraw from planned returns at Wimbledon and the Washington Open this summer. Over the course of that difficult stretch, his world ranking collapsed from fourth to as low as 160th.
Given a main-draw wildcard in Montreal, Draper started nervously but showed flickers of his best tennis in the second set, ripping a powerful cross-court forehand on the way to a dominant 6-2 win that had the crowd buzzing. It appeared a third-set decider might deliver a feel-good story. Instead, something shifted. Draper looked physically drained and emotionally fragile as he dropped serve and found himself broken at 4-1 in the third. During a changeover shortly after, the emotion became overwhelming and he was seen wiping tears from his eyes.
Atmane closed out the match and moves on to face Karen Khachanov in round two. For Draper, the immediate road ahead is uncertain. He holds a wildcard for next week's Cincinnati Open, but his participation is now very much in question. The US Open, which begins August 23, also looms large.
Earlier on the same day, British number five Jacob Fearnley provided a brighter note, defeating Adrian Mannarino 7-6 6-4 to advance and set up a second-round clash with Jakub Mensik.
TennisDraw users had been cautiously optimistic about Draper progressing in Montreal, making him a popular wildcard pick heading into the tournament.
