Jack Draper Forced To Retire On Roland Garros Debut

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Jack Draper won't have good memories of his Roland Garros debut as he was forced to retire in the first round of the Grand Slam.

Ahead of the tournament, the young Brit hoped that the injury struggles are behind him, but that soon proved not to be the case as he took on Tomas Martin Etcheverry from Argentina in the first round of the 2023 Roland Garros.

Draper didn't have a good start into his first H2H meeting on the ATP Tour against the Argentinian. He lost 13 of the first 15 points, but he showed a fighting spirit when he recovered the break in the seventh game of the first set.

But soon, the Brit started feeling a physical discomfort and the world no. 55 was seen to resort to underarm serves, an unusual strategy indicating he wasn't probably capable of continuing.

2023 Roland Garros French Open ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview
2023 Roland Garros French Open ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview

But Draper still wanted to give it a try, but despite his valiant effort, including taking a medical time out after he was down 4-6 in the first set, Draper could not overcome his injury. Ultimately, he had to retire with the score at 0-1 in the second set.

The issue seemed to lie with his left shoulder, which proved problematic throughout the match. It appears to be a new injury, different from those that he struggled with before.

Draper's early exit from the tournament is a significant blow to British tennis, as he was one of only three British men competing in the singles main draw.

This comes on the heels of Daniel Evans' loss on the previous day, an event that led to Evans expressing dissatisfaction with the state of British tennis.

'Disruptive & Wrong': Evans Slams Umpire After Questionable Call
'Disruptive & Wrong': Evans Slams Umpire After Questionable Call

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