Britain’s Jack Draper says he is “devastated” after withdrawing from Wimbledon just 24 hours before his first-round match with a long-term arm injury.
Draper, fresh off a run to the Eastbourne semi-finals last week, was due to face American sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Centre Court on Tuesday.
However, the arm problem that stopped him playing for most of the past year has once again prevented him from competing in a Grand Slam.
“I’m devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury,” said Draper.
“There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months, but this one is definitely the absolute worst.”
It is the second significant injury blow for British interest, following Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal on Sunday because of a stress fracture in her right leg.
Draper spoke to media at Wimbledon on Sunday and gave no indication he was struggling again with the bone bruising in his serving arm.
However, Draper did say he felt the amount of injuries suffered by leading players is “pretty worrying”.
The 24-year-old said of his injury setbacks: “It’s been an incredibly long process.
“It’s taken a lot out of me mentally coming back and back and back.”
