Murray joins Draper’s coaching team for grass-court season
Andy Murray will return to the tennis circuit as part of Jack Draper’s coaching staff for the forthcoming grass-court season, including Wimbledon, after Draper ended his six‑month partnership with Jamie Delgado. “I am very grateful for everything Jamie Delgado has done for me over these past six months,” Draper said in a statement. “He is a world‑class coach and a great man. In the interim, I will continue to be supported by the excellent team at the LTA, with the addition of Andy Murray, who will be supporting me throughout the grass‑court season.”
The move marks Murray’s second coaching role since retiring from professional tennis in 2024, following a high‑profile six‑month stint with Novak Djokovic. Since hanging up his racket, Murray has also taken on a role as an associate partner at the investment firm Redrice Ventures and has spent much of his retirement playing golf.
British tennis insiders had long considered it only a matter of time before Murray coached Draper. During his youth Draper idolised the Scot as a mentor figure, and the two later became good friends. They have trained together many times and competed alongside each other as Olympic and Davis Cup teammates. Their only ATP Tour meeting came at Indian Wells in 2023, where Draper beat Murray.
Delgado, who previously coached Murray to his 2016 Wimbledon title and has also worked with Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov, began working with Draper last December while the 24‑year‑old was recovering from an arm injury. Because of Draper’s subsequent injuries, the pair linked up at only four ATP tournaments.
Injury struggles for Draper
Draper has endured the most difficult 12 months of his career due to a series of significant injuries. A bone bruise to his left arm forced him off the tour for around seven months, and in April this year he suffered a knee injury at the Barcelona Open that caused him to withdraw from the entire clay‑court season, including the French Open. His ranking has dropped to world No. 50, and his career has been continuously held back by physical problems.
Despite these setbacks, Draper has shown his potential. He achieved a career‑high singles ranking of world No. 4 in June 2025, has won three ATP Tour titles – including the Indian Wells Masters 1000 in 2025 – and reached the semi‑finals of the US Open in 2024. Juan Martín del Potro and Gabriela Sabatini have both expressed belief in Draper’s ability, provided he can overcome his injury struggles. His father, Roger Draper, is a former chief executive of Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association.
The LTA, which provides support to British players through its player pathway programmes, has noted an increase in the number of British players inside the top 200 rankings over the past decade. Draper is scheduled to return at the start of the grass‑court season, focusing on recovery after his knee injury.
Historical context and the value of Murray’s grass‑court expertise
Draper’s need for grass‑court guidance is acute. Despite his success on other surfaces – including a Masters 1000 title and a Grand Slam semi‑final – he has never progressed beyond the second round at Wimbledon, a record that stands at second‑round appearances in 2022, 2024 and 2025. He struggled on grass last year even as his results elsewhere flourished.
Murray, by contrast, is one of the greatest grass‑court players of the 21st century. He won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, and retired with 46 ATP Tour singles titles, three Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals and 14 Masters 1000 trophies. He was knighted in 2019 for services to tennis and charity, and was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2013. His coaching stint with Novak Djokovic was described by both men as a learning experience; Murray joked that Djokovic “learned nothing” from him, while Djokovic said they felt they “couldn’t get more” out of the partnership. Murray has indicated he would consider coaching again in the future but is currently prioritising family time over extensive travel.
The combination of Murray’s unparalleled grass‑court knowledge and Draper’s raw talent – allied to their existing friendship and familiarity from training and team competitions – offers Draper his best chance yet of finally making a deep run at the All England Club. Draper’s previous coach Delgado also guided Murray during his 2016 Wimbledon triumph, adding an extra layer of continuity to the story.
Italian Open and other developments
At the Italian Open in Rome, Jannik Sinner equalled Novak Djokovic’s record for consecutive Masters 1000 victories by securing his 31st win in the tournament, a straightforward 6‑2, 6‑3 defeat of qualifier Andrea Pellegrino. Sinner, who became the first Italian world No. 1 on 10 June 2024, later withdrew from the Italian Open due to a hip injury, having also pulled out of the Madrid Masters. His return followed a doping ban that expired in May 2025.
Alexander Zverev, the top seed in Rome, squandered four match points before losing 1‑6, 7‑6(10), 6‑0 to home favourite Luciano Darderi in the third round. However, Zverev went on to win the Italian Open title, defeating Nicolas Jarry in the final. It was his first Masters final since 2022 and his first trophy since recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the 2022 French Open semi‑finals.
In the women’s draw, Sorana Cirstea reached a WTA 1000 semi‑final on clay for the first time in her career, beating Jelena Ostapenko 6‑1, 7‑6(0) at the age of 36.
