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Jack Draper's training regimen for the upcoming season have commenced much earlier than expected

A serving arm issue has restricted him to just one singles match since the grass-court major - and caused him to end his season early after pain proved too much at the New York major in August

Comeback Trail

But the 23-year-old world number eight is back in training, and organizers of a weekend tournament in London in the final month are confident he will be ready to compete

Draper is scheduled to make his return at the showcase event in the English capital, having been granted a wildcard by the event founder

"He expressed certainty - otherwise he would decline to be invited," Mouratoglou commented

"I'm convinced he's going to play. The sole approach you can do is give it time to recover. It will require a long time before competing again"

Recovery Process

"It's impossible to compete on a bone contusion, because the subsequent phase is a hairline fracture and you can't take the possibility to have a stress fracture"

"When you have a bone injury on the serving arm, you can perform a lot of fitness, so you stay in shape. It's annoying because you need to stop completely and be patient until fully healed again"

Current Activities

Draper was showcasing next summer's collection for one of his sponsors recently and has been training regularly at the premier training facility in the city

The training is mainly physical at the present time, and when pre-season training starts in earnest in the coming weeks, the initial on-court drills are likely to be low in intensity

Injury Timeline

The top-ranked UK player first experienced pain in his upper left serving arm during the clay court season in the spring, and after a scan after Wimbledon, did not hit any serves for a month

But the period of rest proved insufficient. He won his opening contest at the Flushing Meadows, but withdrew before the second, and the chance to make his debut at the year-end championships was lost

"He's top 10 and he played half of the year. This demonstrates how good he is..." Mouratoglou added

"The main challenge for the time being is the physical issues: he has been affected by several injuries already in the past"

Career Outlook

"I consistently believed he was going to be a top player, but for every player that is expected to become a world-class performer, there are things to address"

"In his case, the key is discovering a way to be injury free as much as possible because that's what made him lose a significant period otherwise he would be higher in the rankings, I believe"

Tournament Information

The UTS London Grand Final will be hosted at the Copper Box from early December

Draper won the event in 2023 and pocketed what was then the largest prize money of his career

Multiple major tournament contender Casper Ruud will also be in the eight-man field for contests played over four eight-minute quarters

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