Jack Draper has pledged to ‘work his way’ out of injury issues after suffering another setback at the Barcelona Open on Monday.
Draper, who was seeded eighth in the draw, won his opening set against Argentina’s Tomás Martín Etcheverry before being forced to retire when down 6-3, 3-6, 1-4 due to a knee injury. The Brit struggled with his movement as the match progressed and required a medical timeout before the start of the third set. The physio applied taping to an area just below his right knee. It is the first time he has retired from a match since the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open when the issue was to do with his hip.
“He was playing unbelievable,” Etcheverry said of Draper afterwards.
“He is a great competitor. I liked how he plays. He’s a great fighter and hopefully he can recover as soon as he can to get back on tour because the tour likes him.”
Barcelona was the fourth tournament Draper has played on the ATP Tour since returning to action following a five-month absence due to bone bruising in his left serving arm. Prior to the latest setback, he had reached the quarter-final in Indian Wells before losing to Daniil Medvedev. However, he then lost his opening match in Miami prior to heading to Europe for the clay swing.
“Sad to retire in Barcelona,” the 24-year-old wrote in an Instagram post. “I’ve tried hard these last months to stay positive and give my all. It will take time, but I will work my way out of this. Thank you for all the support throughout this process.”
The severity of Draper’s knee issue is yet to be confirmed, and it is unknown if it will have any impact on his upcoming schedule. He is defending 650 points at the Madrid Open, which will get underway on April 21st. Last year, he reached the final of the event before losing to Casper Ruud.
Draper, currently ranked 27th in the ATP live rankings, has won three Tour titles in his career and has been ranked as high as fourth in the world. His best Grand Slam performance was reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 US Open.
