Draper makes winning return to tour after injury

British number one Jack Draper said he felt “really proud” after marking his post-injury return to action on the ATP Tour with a straight-set victory over Frenchman Quentin Halys in Dubai.

Competing on the men’s tour for the first time since the US Open last August, Draper won 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 on his debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The 24-year-old, who has slipped to 15th in the world after reaching a career-high ranking of fourth in June, will play Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan or France’s Arthur Rinderknech next.

“I’ve been craving the feeling of competing for a very long time,” Draper said in his post-match interview.

“It just felt normal, it felt like I was coming back to doing what I love, which is being out here, competing and having the adrenaline of winning and losing points.

“A lot of people have helped me to get back to this position after a lot of down moments [during] the last eight months.

“It’s not been easy to be back here and that’s something I can be really proud of. Long may it continue.”

Draper contested his first competitive match for 164 days when he played at the Davis Cup qualifiers earlier in February, beating Norway’s Viktor Durasovic in straight sets.

Draper won the prestigious Masters 1,000 title at Indian Wells and reached the fourth round of the Australian and French Opens in a promising start to his 2025 season.

But he began struggling with a bruised bone in his service arm during the clay-court swing in April, and the issue progressively worsened.

Determined to complete a full recovery from the issue, Draper took the decision to miss the Australian Open in January before making his return for Great Britain on 5 February.

Seeded fourth in Dubai, Draper had to withstand a set point when serving at 5-4 down in the opening set but went on to edge a tight tie-break by winning three consecutive points to overcome an 8-7 deficit.

Despite first-set opportunities for both players, the first break of serve in the contest did not arrive until the fourth game of the second set when the 68th-ranked Halys hit wide to give Draper a 3-1 lead.

Draper served out victory untroubled from there, conceding just two further points on serve as he ending the match with an impressive 86% win rate on his first serve.