'Devastated' Jack Draper withdraws from Wimbledon due to injury

Jack Draper has withdrawn from Wimbledon just a day before he was set to play his first-round match.

The 24-year-old had made a return to tennis after battling a recurring arm injury through the last 12 months.

Draper’s comeback came at the Eastbourne Open last week, where he reached the semi-finals on the Sussex coast under the watchful eye of coach Sir Andy Murray before losing to Ugo Humbert.

The British no3 arrived at the All England Club on Sunday, insisting that he felt good and that his injury had subsided.

But a day layer he has has announced that the issue had flared up once more and was being forced to withdraw ahead of his first-round encounter with Taylor Fritz, which had been scheduled for a Centre Court slot on Tuesday.

“Devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury," Draper said.

"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 been hoping to make a statement return to Grand Slam action in SW19, having been stunned by Marin Cilic in the second round last year, when he was the fourth seed.

This time around, however, he came into the draw unseeded, having slipped to No160 in the world rankings after a year of injury hell.

He had revealed at Eastbourne last week that he had also been battling knee tendonitis, and in his run to the semi-finals of Queen’s Club last year, he suffered a bout of tonsillitis.

Excitement had been growing about Draper’s return to Wimbledon, especially after his high-profile hire of Murray as his new coach, replacing Jamie Delgado. Draper had confirmed that Murray would be in his player’s box throughout the tournament, having already watched on at Eastbourne.

Draper’s withdrawal follows compatriot Emma Raducanu’s last-minute pull-out, after the British No1, seeded 30 at this year’s Championships, announced that she had suffered a stress fracture in her right leg.

Raducanu had also insisted earlier on Sunday that she would be doing everything she could to play her first-round match against Antonia Ruzic, despite managing an ongoing niggle that forced her to cut short her practice session on Saturday, where she was seen with heavy strapping on her lower leg.