Draper Crushes Shelton in Practice: 6-1 in Washington

Jack Draper won a practice set 6-1 against Ben Shelton at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, in the days leading up to the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Watching the session was Andy Murray, who joined the Briton's team in May. The account comes from an observer courtside, later picked up by the British media: the left arm and the serve looked fine, and Murray was happy with the return too.

The score will never appear in any official statistic, but it says a lot about where the two players are right now. Draper arrives in Washington with a wild card and a ranking of No. 147, back after withdrawing from Wimbledon. Twelve months shaped first by bone oedema in his left arm, then by knee and shoulder problems, cost him all three of the 2026 Slams and pushed a former world No. 4 out of the top 100.

Shelton, by contrast, is the tournament's second seed and world No. 6, but he comes in off a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, described by the American himself as "one of the toughest defeats of my career". Those who watched the practice noticed a forehand still out of tune.

"Physically I'm feeling really good", Draper said on the eve of the tournament, explaining that his energy is coming back and that Murray has brought "a real calm" to his team. The 24-year-old will open against Alex Michelsen. A practice set is not a round won, but for someone who has spent a year wondering whether the arm would hold up, seeing the ball come off the serve cleanly is already an answer.