Athens News - Draper out of French Open in fresh injury blow

It was a further setback for the 24-year-old British tennis player, a former world number four, following a longstanding arm injury that sidelined him for close to eight months.

Draper has managed just nine matches across five events since returning to competitive action in February and retired during his first-round clash with Tomas Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open earlier this month.

He was subsequently diagnosed with an aggravated knee tendon injury but had hoped to feature in the second Grand Slam of the year next month.

Draper has now decided against risking further injury on the clay at Roland Garros and will now try to regain full fitness ahead of the grass-court season, with Wimbledon starting on June 29.

"My knee is on the mend and I've started back hitting balls but unfortunately I have been advised not to play Roland Garros," Draper wrote on Instagram. "As gutting as it is to miss another slam, the advice is not to rush straight back into playing five set tennis on clay.

"Off the back of the arm injury I sustained last year, I've been restricted with my training and by giving myself the time to heal and build, I can be the player I want to be out there once again. See you soon!"

Under a year ago, Draper was ranked in the world's top four after winning the title at Indian Wells and finishing runner-up at another Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

But he now joins the injured Carlos Alcaraz in missing the French Open, with Draper likely to be outside the top 100 in the rankings when he does return.

G.Papazoglou--AN-GR