Jack Draper's clay-court season got off to a disappointing start as he was forced to retire from his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open due to an injury. Despite taking the first set 6-3, Draper struggled with his movement and was eventually broken twice in the third set before withdrawing from the match.
Draper, who is ranked higher than Etcheverry in the ATP rankings, had started strongly but was hindered by his knee from the second set onwards. Etcheverry, who recently pushed world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz to three sets, took control of the match and praised Draper as a 'great competitor' and 'fighter'.
Draper's retirement marks his fourth tournament back on the ATP Tour since recovering from a left-arm injury that kept him sidelined since last August's US Open. He is scheduled to play at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid from April 22. Meanwhile, British No 1 Cameron Norrie overcame a gruelling three-set match against three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka to book his place in the second round. Norrie, who won 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4, will now face American Ethan Quinn in the next round.
Norrie admitted to not feeling physically well during the match but managed to 'dig deep mentally' to secure the win. In other news, Katie Boulter eased into the last 16 of the Rouen Open with a dominant 6-2 6-2 win over Maria Timofeeva.
Boulter, who is targeting a good run in Rouen, will look to build on her momentum in the upcoming rounds.