Jack Draper has admitted he has concerns over his arm injury after prevailing in his opening round match at the US Open.
The British number one had to endure a barrage of winners from qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez as he battled past the Argentinian 6-4 6-3 6-7(7) 6-2 in over three hours.
It was Draper’s first match since his defeat at Wimbledon to Marin Cilic as he had been nursing an arm injury.
After the match Draper admitted he has concerns over his arm injury as he has minimal expectations ahead of the tournament, “I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve, as well,” Draper was quoted by the ATP website as saying in his on-court interview.
“I’m not putting too much expectations on myself. I feel like I’ve put in the work. I know that if I can get that level back, I’m going to be really tough to beat. Obviously there are so many amazing players in this draw, but the main thing is I’m just so happy to be able to compete here in front of you guys in New York.
“Unbelievable to be out here in New York, playing on Louis Armstrong. I wasn’t too sure if I was going to make it here this year, but we did a great job with the team since Wimbledon to get myself back on court. It wasn’t my finest performance, but credit to my opponent, he played some outstanding tennis and I look forward to hopefully improving and getting better as the tournament carries on.”
Next up for Draper will be Zizou Bergs in the second round on Thursday as the Brit aims to defend the semi-final points that he won last year.
In other results, Cameron Norrie was two sets up on Sebastian Korda before the American retired from the contest with a hip injury.
Next up for Norrie will be Francisco Comesana who knocked out 28th seed Alex Michelsen in four sets.
Finally, there was victory for Joao Fonseca who prevailed in three tight sets against Miomir Kecmanovic.
The Brazilian was 102 in the world last year but is now inside the world’s top 50 and will face Tomas Machac in the second round.
