Jack Draper has ruled himself out of the 2026 Australian Open after suffering setbacks in his recovery from an arm injury.
The British No1 has only played one match since being knocked out of Wimbledon by Marin Cilic due to bone bruising in his left arm.
That injury curtailed his 2025 season, and he is set to remain on the sidelines a little while longer.
In a video released on X, he said: "Unfortunately, me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year.
"It's a really, really tough decision, obviously (with) Australia being a grand slam, it's one of the biggest tournaments in our sport.
"However, I've had this injury for a long time, I'm at the very, very end stages of the process and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn't seem like a smart decision right now for me and my tennis."
Draper's arm injury plagued him for much of his campaign, coming to a head at the US Open in August, when he withdrew from his second round match before calling time on his season shortly afterwards.
The 24-year-old had been pencilled in to return at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London earlier this month but he followed advice to take more time in his recovery.
In skipping the season's first grand slam, which starts on January 18 in Melbourne, Draper is now likely to target a comeback in February before the defence of his Indian Wells title at the beginning of March.
He added: "I've obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks so far but by far and away this one has been the most difficult, the most challenging, the most complex one that I've had.
"It's weird, it always seems to manage to make me more resilient, to make me hungrier, to make me want to become the player I want to become even more. I'm looking forward to getting back out there in 2026 and competing."
Additional reporting: Press Association
