British men’s no.1 Jack Draper will not be taking part at the 2026 Australian Open, he has confirmed. Draper has been nursing an arm injury sustained at the US Open in August, but there were recent suggestions he would be ready for the first Grand Slam of 2026, which starts on January 12.This will extend Draper’s absence from the court to five monthsGettyHowever, the 24-year-old has told fans that he will not be participating in the tournament and will also not feature in the United Cup, which takes place a week before.“Hello everybody, instead of writing out a message, I thought I’d send a little video recording to let you know of my progress,” Draper said in a video message posted on his social media accounts.“Unfortunately, me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year. “It’s a really, really tough decision with Australia being a Grand Slam and one of the biggest tournaments in our sport. “However, I’ve had this injury for a long time. I’m at the very, very end stages of the process. “To step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like a smart decision for me and my tennis.”“I’ve obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks so far but by far and away, this one has been the most difficult, the most challenging and the most complex one that I’ve had,” Draper continued.“It’s weird, it always seems to make me more resilient, to make me hungrier to become the player I want to become even more.“I’m looking forward to getting back out there in 2026 and competing. I just want to thank everyone for all the support in 2025.“It means the world to me to be competing and to be playing out there on the tour with the other guys. I’m looking forward to doing that again. Take care everyone and thank you for the support.”View Tweet: https://t.co/giFCnLAPVIA year of two halvesDraper enjoyed his best run in Melbourne at the 2025 championship, reaching the fourth round. Last season saw him claim his biggest triumph in his career so far with glory at the so-called fifth Grand Slam at Indian Wells in March. Draper later rose to a career-high of fifth in the ATP world rankings. This followed on from a strong end to the 2024 season, which saw him reach the semi-finals of the US Open, which is his best run at a major to date. However, his career has also seen him get dogged by injury, having been sidelined by a shoulder injury for two-and-a-half months in 2023. He was also hurt by an abdominal injury in 2024 and also had a hip issue in the build-up to the 2025 season. This latest injury came at Flushing Meadows with Draper pulling out of his second-round match against Zizou Bergs.