When Andy Murray and Jack Draper joined forces this year, British tennis had huge expectations from the team-up. However, given Draper’s injury woes, it would have been understandable if there was speculation about Murray staying on as the coach, given the fickle nature of coaching partnerships in tennis. However, the former World No.1 had a very firm and practical answer when asked the question about his role in Draper’s team for 2027.

“Yeah, there’s still plans to help him,” Murray said in a Sky Sports interview. “I don’t know where that is. I’m not entirely sure because his ranking will have dropped. I don’t know if he would get into Australia, and potentially relying on wild cards and things like that, so we’ll see. “Hopefully he’ll be back on the court training again soon and getting ready for the new season – it has been an interesting year.”

Draper cut his 2026 season short after an emotional Instagram message on September 15 announcing his decision. The British player has struggled with multiple injuries in the last few years. Still, the chief among them has been a long-term bone bruising injury on his left arm, affecting his lethal serving capabilities during matches.

Draper had an encouraging comeback in the 2026 season, with a decent run to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells. Still, once again, injuries hit him, forcing him to forgo the entire clay-court season. Having joined forces with Murray at the start of the grass-court season, Draper had the ambition of playing at Wimbledon. Still, the Brit had to retire at the last moment, despite having a good preparatory semifinal run at the warm-up event at Eastbourne.

Murray is not far off the mark in expressing his concerns about Draper’s ranking. As it stands, Draper is No.157 on the ATP Rankings, and given that he is not going to play at any other event in 2026, the ranking might drop below 200 as well. This would put Draper at risk of missing direct entry to the Australian Open next year, with the Brit needing to rely on wildcards or use the protected ranking provision.

If Draper cannot make it to Melbourne due to his ranking, there is a good chance he may even have to play Challenger events to build up his ranking. Given that Murray is already on a limited availability with Draper, it will be up to the former World No.1 if he decides to increase his travel to guide his younger compatriot.

For Draper, the immediate focus would be to find a long-term plan for his injury management, along with making tactical changes to his game, something Murray could be more than handy with, given his own experience on the Tour.

Andy Murray Could Provide Invaluable Tactical Acumen to Jack Draper

While Murray was brought on Draper’s team to provide tactical insights into the Brits’ potential opponents, the three-time Major champion could be an invaluable ally to Draper by helping him manage his injury. Draper has already switched to a lighter version of his Dunlop racket, with which he struggled on the faster courts of Montreal and Cincinnati, as the new racket reduced his topspin power even though it did not add more pressure to teh injured shoulder.

Murray himself has experimented with a lot of gear throughout his career. The Brit made a similar heavy-to-light switch in terms of rackets, using the Luxilin Alu Power with natural gut strings. This helped him reduce the risk of injury to his arms and elbows, which were under constant pressure from the high-tension strings in his previous racket.

Muray was not hesitant to alter his approach late in his career as well, opting for a Yonex racket frame in 2024. This also enabled the Brit to change his natural baseline game to a more aggressive approach. Given Draper’s injuries, the Brit needs to make similar alterations to his game and adjust to playing with less topspin. While the former World No.4 will hope to make a full recovery and return to his old style, he will have Murray by his side, who can help him revamp his game for success in 2027.