Jack Draper marked his return from a three-month injury layoff with a straight-sets win over Marcos Giron at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, opening a new chapter in his career with Andy Murray in his coaching box for the first time.
The former world No. 4, who had not played a competitive match since April, beat the lucky loser 6-4, 7-6(5) in 85 minutes on the grass of Devonshire Park, a week out from the start of Wimbledon. “Incredibly excited to be back out here again,” Draper said in his on-court interview, having admitted before the tournament that he had not been certain his body would let him play on grass at all.
It was a measured rather than commanding return for the home favorite, but a significant one. Draper has been hampered by injury for much of the past 12 months, a stretch that has dropped his ranking from a career high of No. 4 to outside the world’s top 150. A shoulder problem ended his 2025 season at last year’s US Open, and a knee issue forced him off the tour again from April, restricting him to a handful of appearances this year. Monday’s victory was only his 10th match of 2026.
The headline story, though, was the man watching from the player box. Murray — the two-time Wimbledon champion, three-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1 — has joined Draper’s team for the grass-court season, a partnership confirmed during the Briton’s most recent spell on the sidelines. It is the first time the pair have worked together in competition, after months of preparation while Draper was unable to compete.
Draper, who has spoken often of Murray’s influence on his career, described his new coach as one of his biggest inspirations and a mentor as much as a tactician. He pointed to their long-standing relationship off the court, saying Murray had backed him as a player and a person through a difficult period — exactly the kind of support, he suggested, that a comeback demands. The appeal of bringing in a figure who has navigated the same injuries, the same home pressure and the same Wimbledon expectation was not lost on him.
On court, Draper showed flashes of the all-court game that carried him into the top five, wrapping up the opening set in 36 minutes. The second was less smooth. A lapse in concentration allowed Giron, ranked No. 86, to break back and force a tie-break, and Draper trailed 3-1 in the breaker before steadying to close it out, sealing the win with a forehand winner. He was candid about the rust afterwards, acknowledging the performance dipped in patches and noting that long absences can cost a player focus against opponents good enough to punish it.
The result sets up an all-British second round against good friend Jack Pinnington Jones, scheduled for Wednesday on Centre Court. Pinnington Jones, a wild card who has spent much of the season on the Challenger circuit, reached the last 16 by saving a match point to beat Marco Trungelliti in three sets — a first meeting between the two compatriots.
For Draper, the priority is match fitness and rhythm rather than silverware. As British No. 1 he carries the bulk of home expectation at Wimbledon, where his results have yet to match his talent and where questions over his durability have shadowed an injury-disrupted year. Eastbourne — an ATP 250 he last played in 2022, reaching the semi-finals as a teenager — offers a lower-pressure setting to rebuild. The event has already lost top seed and four-time champion Taylor Fritz to injury, underlining how attritional the grass swing has become heading into the year’s third major.
Whether Draper can string together enough matches to arrive at the All England Club sharp remains the open question. On Monday’s evidence, the body held up and the Murray partnership began with a win — modest first steps, but the only ones available to a player whose year has been defined by their absence.
