Jack Draper set for clay court debut at tournament featuring Carlos Alcaraz

Jack Draper is already looking ahead to the clay court season as he builds up his fitness for the rest of 2024.

Draper recently made his return to the ATP Tour following a six-month layoff with an arm injury.

In just his second tournament back, he reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, defeating Novak Djokovic along the way.

His title defence at Indian Wells ended in controversy against Daniil Medvedev, but Draper is now shifting his focus to the Miami Open and the upcoming clay swing.

Jack Draper set to make debut at the Barcelona Open

Jack Draper is set to feature in the main draw of the Barcelona Open for the first time next month.

The tournament has a long list of distinguished past champions, including Rafael Nadal, Ivan Lendl and Carlos Alcaraz.

This year, Alcaraz will be back as the top seed. Holger Rune defeated him in last year’s final but won’t be able to defend his title due to an Achilles injury.

Lorenzo Musetti, Alex de Minaur, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud are among the other high-profile names expected to compete.

A wildcard spot has already been given to up-and-coming Spanish talent Rafael Jodar, who has a win over Cameron Norrie on his record this season.

The 2026 edition of the ATP 500 event is scheduled to start on Monday, April 13th.

Jack Draper’s record on clay so far

Despite reaching a career-high ranking of world number four, Jack Draper still doesn’t have a lot of experience on clay. He’s played just three French Opens and had a losing record on the surface before last year’s breakthrough run in Madrid.

Draper made headlines at the Madrid Open by reaching the final, although he lost to Casper Ruud. That same tournament is where he first started feeling discomfort in his arm, but he still managed to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros later that season.

Draper’s 2026 clay campaign will begin at the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament where he has only two wins from five matches.

Before turning his attention to clay, though, Draper will focus on the Miami Open hard courts.

He’ll enter Miami looking for points after dropping out of the top 25 in the ATP rankings. Last year, he lost his only match there but will hope for better this time around as a seeded player who receives an automatic bye into round two. He’ll face either Reilly Opelka or Nuno Borges in his opening match.

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