Jack Draper's return to the clay courts was cut short due to injury as he was forced to retire in 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 eventually had to withdraw from the match, trailing 4-1 in the third set. Draper, who had been out of action since last August's US Open due to a left-arm injury, had shown promise in the first set but was hindered by his knee from the start of the second set.
His opponent, Etcheverry, praised Draper's competitiveness, saying, 'He was playing unbelievable... He is a great competitor. I liked how he plays.
He's a great fighter and hopefully he can recover as soon as he can to get back on tour because the tour likes him.' Draper's next scheduled tournament is the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, where he reached the final last year. Meanwhile, British No 1 Cameron Norrie advanced to the second round with a hard-fought three-set win over Stan Wawrinka, while Katie Boulter eased into the last 16 of the Rouen Open with a dominant victory over Maria Timofeeva.