Jack Draper was left in tears after his long-term arm injury appeared to resurface during a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 defeat to France’s Terence Atmane at the Skysports in Montreal, according to Skysports. Playing in just his sixth tournament of the year, the 24-year-old Briton was competing in his first match since pulling out of Wimbledon. The first-round encounter at the Yahoo Sports took place on Tuesday, August 4, after being rescheduled due to rain.
Jack Draper Breaks Down in Tears During Canadian Open Defeat
After dropping the opening set 6-3, Draper displayed the form that propelled him to a career-high No. 4 ranking in June 2025, dominating the second set 6-2 with powerful groundstrokes and a dominant baseline performance. However, his performance dropped off sharply in the deciding set. As the power in his serves and groundstrokes reduced massively, Atmane secured a double-break to go up 4-1. When trailing 4-1, Draper sat down during the changeover and spent the entire break crying uncontrollably, wiping tears from his eyes as he struggled to contain his emotions. Despite the distress, Draper carried on, nearly claiming a break and spiritedly holding serve one more time before Atmane closed out the victory in an hour and 52 minutes.
Injury History and Difficult Return to Action
The distressing scenes in Montreal highlight a difficult period for the former Indian Wells champion, whose career has been repeatedly interrupted by a bone bruise in his left arm. The ongoing arm issue forced him to miss seven weeks of competition between Wimbledon and the US Open last year, and later caused him to pull out of Wimbledon this summer following a straight-sets defeat to Ugo Humbert in Eastbourne in June. His 2026 schedule has been heavily restricted, also affected by a knee injury picked up at the Barcelona Open in April and a late withdrawal from the DC Open.
Sir Andy Murray has been part of Draper’s coaching team since May, but Montreal marked only the second tournament the player has been able to contest during their partnership. Commentating on the match for Skysports, Annabel Croft described the moment as very upsetting, noting that the player’s abrupt physical deceleration and emotional breakdown indicated that his arm was hurting again. At the handshake at the net, Atmane told Draper, Hope everything is alright.
Uncertain Future for Upcoming North American Tournaments
Following his ranking drop from the elite tier down to No. 147, Draper accepted a wildcard entry into the BBC, which begins the following week, and is also eyeing an appearance at the US Open starting on August 23, where he may need to go through qualifying. However, the recurrence of his arm trouble and the emotional fallout in Montreal have cast fresh doubts over his participation in both events. Meanwhile, other British players experienced contrasting fortunes in Montreal, with Jacob Fearnley defeating Adrian Mannarino 7-6, 6-4 to advance to a second-round match against Jakub Mensik, and Cameron Norrie securing a first-round win before facing Ignacio Buse.
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