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The British number one's preparations for 2026 have begun sooner than expected

An arm injury has limited him to just a single competitive outing since the grass-court major - and caused him to end his season early after discomfort became unbearable at the US Open in August

Comeback Trail

But the young British world number eight is resuming practice, and officials of a weekend tournament in London in December are confident he will be ready to compete

Draper is scheduled to make his comeback at the UTS Grand Final in London, having been granted a wildcard by the event founder

"He was very confident - if not he would decline to be invited," Mouratoglou stated

"I'm convinced he will participate. The sole approach you can do is give it time to recover. He's going to take a long time before returning to competition"

Recovery Process

"It's impossible to compete on a bone contusion, because the next stage is a stress fracture and you can't take the risk to have a stress fracture"

"When you have a bone injury on the serving arm, you can perform a lot of fitness, so you maintain fitness. It's frustrating because you must cease entirely and wait until it's completely clean again"

Current Activities

Draper was showcasing upcoming season's line for one of his corporate partners recently and has been working out regularly at the premier training facility in the city

The training is mainly physical at the present time, and when off-season preparation begins in full swing in the coming weeks, the initial on-court drills are expected to be low in intensity

Recovery History

The British number one first felt discomfort in his primary serving limb during the clay court season in the spring, and following a scan after the Championships, did not practice serving for a month

But the period of rest proved insufficient. He successfully completed his opening contest at the US Open, but pulled out before the next round, and the chance to make his debut at the season ending ATP Finals was gone

"He ranks among the best and he competed in numerous tournaments. Just to say how good he is..." the coach continued

"His only problem for the time being is the injuries: he has been through multiple physical setbacks previously in the past"

Career Outlook

"I always thought he was going to be a top player, but for all athletes that is expected to become a world-class performer, there are things to solve"

"In his case, the key is discovering a way to be injury free as often as feasible because that's what made him lose a significant period or else he would be higher among competitors, I think"

Tournament Information

The prestigious event will be hosted at the Copper Box from 5-7 December

Draper triumphed at the competition in last year and earned what was then the largest prize money of his professional journey

Three-time major tournament contender Casper Ruud will additionally be in the select player group for contests played over short timed periods

• Only 15 seconds are allowed between points
• There is only one serve attempt
• Special advantages can be activated to multiply the points of the following rally by three