A major setback at the Japan Open! There has already been a series of big names that have been missing from this year’s Asia swing. Now, we have started to witness a few walkovers too! Emma Raducanu gave a walkover in her QF match at the Korean Open. Now it’s time for another Brit! Is intense scheduling in the tennis world yet again playing a major role behind all of these incidents? We don’t know, but Jack Draper was seen struggling a lot during his QF match against France’s Ugo Humbert at the Japan Open. As per the latest report, his issues with his abdomen have now forced him to retire in the middle of the match.

The score was at 7-5,2-1 in favor of the Frenchman, when Draper made the final call. Renowned tennis blogger and reporter, Mario Boccardi shared an update on this through a tweet. He wrote, “Jack Draper is forced to retire. Ugo Humbert is into the ATP 500 Tokyo SFs and up to #17 in the ATP Live Ranking. Speedy recovery @jackdraper0.” We saw Jack Draper calling in the physio and, as per the initial looks, it seemed that he was having some discomfort in his abdomen. 

He shook his head and he was seen struggling a lot with his serve due to that injury. Throughout this span of play, he scored one ace and committed one double fault. That’s quite a rare sight in his game because we know Jack Draper is quite fond of hitting aces. For example, in his six matches at the US Open, he hit 54 aces. Even here, at the Japan Open, he played really well in his previous two matches. Draper defeated the world number 8, Hubert Hurkacz in the R16 by 6-4,6-4. The way he was playing, Jack Draper was clearly among the favorites to lift the title this year.

Draper has already won a title this season at the Stuttgart Open. This is a massive blow for his fans and now they’ll be praying for his quick recovery ahead of the ATP Masters tournament in Shanghai which will take place in the next week. Jack Draper is currently Britain’s number-one player in the men’s singles. He suffered multiple shoulder injuries last year and was forced to miss quite a few tournaments due to those injuries. Even this year, he gave a walkover to Alex de Minaur in the SF of the Mexican Open. How does Draper look at these setbacks and uphills in his career?

Is Jack Draper mentally prepared to carry forward the legacy of British tennis from Andy Murray?

Draper has played some outstanding tennis this year. During a recent interview, Jack Draper admitted that he’s ready for the “responsibility” of leading British tennis. However, at the same time, he mentioned that he believes it’s a bit “unthinkable” to come parallel with the achievements of the tennis great, Andy Murray. He looks quite optimistic to fill the void left by Murray, but is he ready physically? Well, that’s now the question of the hour, according to all the British tennis fans.

Speaking about carrying forward the baton from Murray, Jack Draper said, “I see it as a responsibility to be the person who’s performing. Andy has had a lot of success over a long period of time, and my biggest respect for him was that he did that with a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially around Wimbledon time. I see it as a responsibility to achieve great things for myself and for British tennis.” He further added, “I’m not thinking of achieving what he’s achieved because I think that would be unrealistic right now.”

However, he has assured his fans that he’ll do everything that is possible for him to fulfill his potential. Be it winning a Grand Slam title or being one of the best in the world, Draper says he’s ready for the race! Currently, he’s ranked 20th in the world and these frequent injuries are the real blockade of his goals. What did he say about missing out on the opportunity to play for quite a significant part of the season last year? According to Jack Draper, “It was kind of a blessing in disguise because I needed to look at myself, look at my physicality, work on my mentality as well, because I wasn’t ready to be a top player.” Draper is clearly a work in progress, but now it’ll be interesting to see if he can really end this season on a high note.