Jack Draper will play the National Bank Open in Montreal after all. Tennis Canada awarded the former world No. 4 a main-draw wild card on Wednesday, two days after he pulled out of the Mubadala DC Open with a left arm injury. Alexis Galarneau and Liam Draxl received the tournament’s other two remaining main-draw invitations.
The timing is the story. Draper was in the Washington field on a wild card of his own and withdrew before his opening match against Alex Michelsen, replaced in the draw by lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald. Two days later he had accepted a place in a Masters 1000 event whose main draw begins Sunday at IGA Stadium.
That sequence needs a caveat. A wild card is an entry, not a medical clearance. Neither Draper nor his team has said the arm has been cleared for competition, and no scan result or return-to-play timeline has been made public. Washington is the cautionary precedent. Draper spoke to reporters there about feeling physically good, then withdrew roughly a day later. Until he walks on court in Montreal, the wild card confirms intent and little else.
So why did the tournament offer it? Part of the answer is administrative rather than sentimental. Tennis Canada noted that the wild cards given to Draper and Kei Nishikori are the product of reciprocal agreements with other organizations, arrangements that will place Canadian players into ATP tournaments elsewhere in 2027. Draper’s invitation is closer to a trade than a gift.
The rest is straightforward event-building. Montreal lost world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic last week, both of whom had appeared on the initial player list. A Masters 1000 field short two of the sport’s biggest draws has an obvious incentive to add a 2025 Indian Wells champion and 2024 US Open semifinalist. Tournament organizers named Draper and Gael Monfils as the marquee additions to a main draw that now holds five Canadians.
Draper’s season explains why the invitation was needed at all. He is ranked No. 147 and has played 13 tour-level matches in 2026. An arm injury cost him the Australian Open. A knee problem picked up at April’s Barcelona Open ruled him out of Roland-Garros and kept him off court for more than two months.
He returned at Eastbourne in late June and won three matches in straight sets, over Marcos Giron, Jack Pinnington Jones and Gabriel Diallo, before losing the semifinal to Ugo Humbert. Days after that, a recurrence of the arm injury forced him out of Wimbledon on the eve of his first-round match. He has not completed a match since.
Montreal is at least familiar ground. This is Draper’s third appearance at the Canadian event and his second at IGA Stadium. In 2022 he reached the quarterfinals there before losing to eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta. “I’m really excited to be playing in Montreal,” Draper said. “It’s a tournament I’ve enjoyed, and I have great memories of reaching the quarterfinals here a few years ago. I’m looking forward to getting back on court and competing in front of the Canadian fans again.”
The arithmetic that matters most is in New York. The US Open main draw begins Aug. 30. Draper’s ranking left him outside the cut for direct entry, and he sits on the alternate list with more than 40 players ahead of him. That leaves two realistic routes to Flushing Meadows: qualifying, or a discretionary wild card from a USTA now run by chief executive Craig Tiley, who began the job on July 20. Those invitations have traditionally favored American players.
Between now and then the calendar is tight. Montreal runs through Aug. 13. Cincinnati follows from Aug. 8 to Aug. 23, and Draper is not in that field on ranking, meaning a second wild card would be required to play it. US Open qualifying arrives at the end of August.
Match rhythm, not results, is the honest objective. Draper has three match wins since March. A deep Montreal run would be a bonus, and nobody around him is forecasting one. Two or three completed matches across consecutive weeks would be the more meaningful outcome, and a far more reliable signal about whether he arrives in New York capable of surviving a two-week tournament.
