Jack Draper: Will Andy Murray joining coaching team inadvertently add pressure or help former US Open semi-finalist? | Tennis News

Jack Draper announced earlier this week that Andy Murray has joined his coaching team for the grasscourt season, but could it bring more pressure to his game?

Draper has endured a difficult 12 months due to injury and will miss this month’s French Open because of a knee tendon issue, but hopes to return in June ahead of Queen’s and Wimbledon.

British players are thrown into the spotlight during the grasscourt season but Sky Sports Tennis‘ Laura Robson wondered if the presence of Murray may have indirect consequences for Draper.

“In some way it’s really beneficial that Andy’s in his corner but in other ways it’s more pressure as well,” she said.

“I don’t know which way I’m leaning towards still because there’s going to be so much attention now on that first match back, wherever it may be. That probably isn’t going to feel great, considering he’s not played a lot of tennis. It’s been a tough time with injuries over the last almost a year now.

“To know, going in, that you’re expected by pretty much everyone to be playing well probably adds another layer to it but I haven’t quite decided which way I’m leaning there yet.”

British No 2 Draper also announced he had split with Jamie Delgado after working under Murray’s former coach for only six months.

Four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman said: “I was a little bit surprised that Jack and Jamie Delgado had split because they’ve been working together for a period of time but they haven’t had a massive amount of time at tournaments.

“We saw them in Indian Wells and Jack looked like he was playing well, so that was definitely a surprise to me.

“When I heard about Andy Murray coming in for the grasscourt season, I think that’s a great opportunity for Jack with Andy’s obvious experience as a player playing at home; Queen’s, Wimbledon, his record speaks for itself, so definitely a good opportunity.”

How can Murray help Draper?

Murray’s coaching career began just a few months after he retired from tennis in August 2024 when Novak Djokovic announced the three-time Grand Slam champion would coach him.

The partnership only lasted five months with Djokovic reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 Australian Open, but failed to win any ATP titles under Murray.

But, Draper is in a different stage of his career and his most difficult Grand Slam so far has actually been Wimbledon – where Murray famously triumphed in 2013 and 2016.

“Jack hasn’t necessarily had his best results on grass and I think that’s where Andy, with his knowledge and experience, can play an important part,” said Henman.

“I also think [he can] help Jack with the spotlight. Andy’s going to draw quite a lot of attention at that time of year with the British tournaments, the British crowd, so I think that’s where Andy can have a huge positive impact on Jack’s game and Jack’s mentality for those grass-court tournaments as long as he’s fit.”

Prior to last summer, Draper had been making big strides as one of the main challengers behind the almost unstoppable duo at the top of men’s tennis in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

He reached the semi-finals at the 2024 US Open and won the 2025 Indian Wells title, including a win over Alcaraz in the semi-finals and was runner-up at the Madrid Open, where he reached world No 4.

Draper was surprisingly beaten in the second round at Wimbledon, admitting his forehand game was exposed, then suffered an arm injury at the US Open which curtailed his season.

The 24-year-old only returned to action in February but was still not 100 per cent with his arm, and has now suffered a knee injury.

It means Draper is set to fall outside of the world’s top 100 but Henman believes Murray can help his compatriot to ignore the ATP rankings.

“From the outside looking in and from a position of experience, it is very easy to say ‘the ranking doesn’t matter’ but when you are that person, and you’ve been top five in the world, and now your ranking has dropped to outside 100 that is massively frustrating,” he explained.

“You want to be out on the match court competing, showing your skill set and when you are injured as an athlete it’s the worst time.

“I think to have an experienced voice like Andy just to say to Jack ‘we’re looking at the long term here, we’ve got to build small steps, you’ve got to be fit and healthy so that you can then go out on the court and do yourself justice’.

“We’ve talked a lot about the mental side of this sport and I think this will be hugely important for Jack to manage his own expectations. He’s been out pretty much for a year, so start slowly and really build and I’m sure Andy will be continuing with that messaging.”

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