Draper's Clay-Court Season Off to a Disappointing Start as Injury Forces Retirement in Barcelona

Jack Draper's clay-court season got off to a disappointing start as he was forced to retire due to injury in the deciding set of his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open. Despite taking the first set 6-3, Draper struggled with his movement and had to have his right knee taped by a physio during the break between sets. However, he was unable to recover and eventually trailed 4-1 in the third set before withdrawing from the match. Draper, who is ranked one place higher than Etcheverry in the ATP rankings, had started strongly but was hindered by his knee from the start of the second set. Etcheverry, who had taken world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz to three sets on clay in Monte Carlo the previous week, took control of the match and praised Draper as a 'great competitor' and 'fighter' after his victory. Draper's retirement marks a setback in his return to the ATP Tour, having only recently come back from a left-arm injury that kept him sidelined since last August's US Open. He is next scheduled to play at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid from April 22. Meanwhile, British No 1 Cameron Norrie booked his place in the second round with a gruelling three-set win over three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. Norrie emerged victorious, taking the final set 6-4, and will now face American Ethan Quinn in the next round. 'I was not feeling that well physically today, so I had to really dig deep mentally,' said Norrie. 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. The British No 3 is targeting a good run in Rouen, potentially aiming for her first clay-court title of her career.