Jack Draper has delayed his comeback from an arm injury in pulling out of this weekend’s Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) grand final in London.
The British number one has played just one singles matches since Wimbledon and had been hoping to continue his preparations for a January return to the tour.
However, the 23-year-old said in a social media post he has been advised to take more time rather than play in the event, which takes place at the Copper Box Arena from 5 to 7 December.
“I’ve been working hard to get ready for the UTS but frustratingly I’m just not quite ready,” Draper said.
“It’s a tough call as I want nothing more than to compete but I’ve advised to take more time. Sorry to let down fans and miss out on the event.”
Draper first felt discomfort in his upper left serving arm during the clay court season in the spring, and following a scan after Wimbledon, did not hit any serves for a month.
He tried to return at the US Open in late August, but after playing alongside Jessica Pegula in the mixed doubles and winning his first-round match in the singles, withdrew because of the discomfort.
This week’s three-day event in London would have offered Draper at least three short matches, over four eight-minute quarters, and competition from fellow top-20 players Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.
Draper was offered a wildcard into the UTS event by its founder Patrick Mouratoglou.
While confident Draper would be ready to play, the Frenchman did stress the danger of returning too quickly from this type of injury when talking to BBC Sport in October.
“You can’t play on a bone bruise, because the next stage is a stress fracture and you can’t take the risk to have a stress fracture,” Mouratoglou said.
“When you have a bone bruise on the arm, you can do a lot of fitness, so you stay in shape. It’s annoying because you need to stop completely and wait until it’s completely clean again.”
Draper posted video of himself hitting forehands at the National Tennis Centre in London in early November, with a compression sleeve on his left arm.
His next scheduled appearance is for Great Britain in the United Cup team competition in Perth in the first week of January.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the new season, starts in Melbourne on 18 January.
Draper reached a career high world ranking of four in June, and still stands at 10 after an outstanding first half of the year, which included a first Masters 1,000 title at Indian Wells.
