Jack Draper out of Wimbledon as injury problems return

Jack Draper has followed Emma Raducanu in withdrawing from Wimbledon in a nightmare 24 hours for British tennis.

Neither of Britain’s two leading lights will even take to the court at the All England Club after Draper revealed he has suffered a recurrence of his arm injury.

It is a devastating blow for the 24-year-old, who finally appeared to have put his latest fitness struggles behind him after a hugely difficult year in which he has played only a handful of tournaments.

Draper’s troubles began after Wimbledon last year, when he took nearly seven months off with bone bruising in his arm, and he then missed almost the entire clay-court season due to a knee injury.

The former world number four, who had been due to face sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Centre Court on Tuesday, said: “Devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first-round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury.

“There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months but this one is definitely the absolute worst as there is no greater honour for a British player than playing at Wimbledon. I will continue to persevere through this. Thank you for the support.”

Draper had finally returned to the court in Eastbourne last week for the first time since April and performed strongly, reaching the semi-finals under the guidance of new coach Andy Murray.

The former US Open semi-finalist gave no indication at a press conference on Sunday that he was a doubt for the tournament, saying he was “slowly but surely getting my body back to feeling great”.

Draper must hope that he will not be away from the court for another significant chunk of time but bone bruising is a difficult injury to shake off for good.

The news comes a day after Raducanu also withdrew from Wimbledon, revealing she is suffering from a stress fracture in her lower right leg.

That came as significantly less of a shock given the 23-year-old had clearly been struggling during practice, although she, too, had been optimistic she could at least take to the court.

There is no doubting the quality and potential of Draper and Raducanu but their physical fragility threatens to prevent them ever fulfilling that.

Raducanu faces a number of weeks on the sidelines, with the US Open at the end of August appearing hugely unlikely along with the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in China the following month.

The former US Open champion must hope she has not made the problem significantly worse by attempting to push through for Wimbledon, with Raducanu admitting she was taking a risk.

As well as more rehab for Draper, meanwhile, he must resolve his coaching situation after agreeing to work with Murray and former mentor James Trotman over the grass-court season.

Both Murray and Draper have spoken positively about extending the arrangement for the long term, with the latter telling the Press Association: “This is the start of me and Andy’s relationship and I think that will carry on.

“I think we both hope that’s going to carry on and I think Andy really believes in me as a player and he knows I can achieve really, really great things, so I’m looking forward to that.”

The role of Trotman is less clear. He stepped away from a four-year partnership with Draper to take a break from the tour and focus on family life but continued to work for the Lawn Tennis Association and has been sharing duties with Murray this month.

“I think him knowing me as well as he does, him working alongside Andy, they also have an amazing relationship for a long time, that’s been the best possible set-up for me in this period where things have been a bit uncertain and coming back to court and everything, that’s one area that has to be working really well and both of them have really been amazing,” said Draper.

“With Trots, that’s things we have to discuss, but I know that, if there’s anyone I want to work with, it’s those two.”