Britain’s Jack Draper to miss French Open with knee injury in latest setback

Britain’s Jack Draper has been ruled out of the French Open with a knee injury. It is another blow in the former world No 4’s attempts to re-establish himself following the long-term arm injury that ruled him out for the best part of eight months.

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

He was subsequently diagnosed with an aggravated knee tendon injury and had initially hoped to return ahead of the second grand slam of the year next month.

However, Draper has now decided not to attempt to put his body through the rigours of best-of-five-set tennis on clay and will instead focus on recovering for the grass-court season.

Writing on Instagram, he said: “My knee is on the mend and I’ve started back hitting balls but unfortunately I have been advised not to play Roland Garros. 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!”

It is another dispiriting setback for the 24-year-old, who less than a year ago was ranked in the world’s top four and appeared a potential challenger to the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for the major titles.

Now he joins Alcaraz in missing Roland Garros and is almost certain to be outside the top 100 in the rankings when he returns.

The news continues a disappointing season overall for the leading British contenders, with Emma Raducanu still sidelined as she recovers from post-viral symptoms following an illness in early February.

Sonay Kartal has already ruled herself out of the French Open with a back injury suffered at the Miami Open last month while Fran Jones and Jacob Fearnley have also been struggling with fitness issues.

Cameron Norrie, who will return to the world’s top 20 next month, and Katie Boulter were the only British players taking part in singles at the current Madrid Open, and it could well be the same for the Italian Open in Rome next week.

Raducanu is back in training and could play at the Foro Italico, with the British No 1 set to make a decision later this week.

The main draw of the French Open begins on 24 May, with the women’s and men’s finals taking place on 6 and 7 June respectively.