Jack Draper suffered yet another setback in his fitness at the Barcelona Open.
During his opening match at the ATP 500 tournament against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Draper was forced to retire from the contest due to a knee injury.
The Briton’s injury comes just two months after his long-awaited return to tour-level action, having been sidelined for six months with bone bruising in his left serving arm.
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Since his comeback, Draper has featured at the Davis Cup, the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Indian Wells Open, the Miami Open, and the Barcelona Open, with a season win-loss record of 5-4.
After he picked up another injury in Barcelona, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski said his situation is now ‘disconcerting’.
Greg Rusedski reacts to Jack Draper’s new injury setback
Speaking in an episode of ‘Off Court with Greg‘, Rusedski said: “Jack Draper, the shoulder is good finally, and then all of a sudden the knee goes out.
“This is disconcerting because you have six to seven months off, and then all of a sudden you start to get a little bit of momentum, and it’s not the main injury you’ve been away for, but it’s the knee.
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“We’re hoping that’s not too serious because Jack is too talented a player not to get back. At the end of the day, the very best players have that extra belief, and they don’t care about taking that extra time off.
“If you come back too soon, and you’re not fully healed up and ready to go, you get another injury, because the body is not used to it.
“So you have to play those practice sets. You don’t want to rush it back.”
How much time Jack Draper has to prepare for Roland Garros
Draper’s latest injury now means his chances of appearing at Roland Garros have decreased, after achieving his best result at the major last year.
In 2025, Draper reached the fourth round of Roland Garros, beating Gael Monfils and Joao Fonseca en route before falling to Alexander Bublik.
The French Open is set to begin on the 18th of May, meaning Draper has exactly a month to prepare.
Tune-up events for Roland Garros come in the form of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, both of which are Masters 1000 competitions.
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