JACK DRAPER has dramatically withdrawn from the US Open with an arm injury.
The British No.1 – ranked fifth in the main draw – was due to face Zizou Bergs in the second round on Thursday.
Yet about 24 hours before that scheduled clash, it was announced that he would be pulling out – Belgian Bergs now receives a walkover win into round three.
Draper , 23, injured his left arm in the clay-court season and then took time off after his second-round Wimbledon exit to Croatian veteran Marin Cilic .
The Sutton southpaw, who attended an Oasis concert at Wembley during his break off court, revealed before the start of the New York Slam that he had suffered a “bone stress, bone bruising, in my humerus on my left side”.
It was an issue he was having to manage and was causing him discomfort and something he had kept relatively quiet.
And you wonder how much of his decision to play in the Big Apple – he beat Argentine Federico Agustín Gómez in the first round on Monday – was influenced by the launch of new sponsors Vuori, who have a store on Fifth Avenue.
Had that not been on the cards, Draper may have made the decision not to travel and rest up before the Asian hard-court swing this autumn.
Draper practised on site on Wednesday morning but clearly felt he could not last potentially five sets of Grand Slam tennis .
He said: “I’m sorry to say I’ll be withdrawing from the US Open.
“I tried my very best to be here and give myself every chance to play but the discomfort in my arm has become too much.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
“And I have to do what is right and look after myself. Thank you for all the support, it means so much to me. Until next year NYC.”
The news comes after Draper found the conditions in his first round victory over Federico Agustin Gomez difficult on Monday, spewing on the court .
The star puked up FOUR times when he was defeated by world No.1 Jannik Sinner in the US Open semi-finals 11 months ago.
Anxiety and tension from being in a high-stress situation was blamed at the time for the reason behind his repeated puking – though he later claimed pain-killing medication had given him a dodgy tummy.
On Monday, playing on a hot afternoon in the Big Apple, the sickness bug returned, and he coughed up more sick in the third set.
