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Britain’s Jack Draper had to retire in the third set of his first-round match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open because of a knee injury.<\/b><\/p>\n
Draper, playing his first match of the clay-court season, won the first set against Argentina’s Etcheverry 6-3 but began to have difficulty with his movement and lost the second set 6-3.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old received attention from a physio and had tape applied to an area below his right knee shortly before the deciding set started.<\/p>\n
His serve was broken twice by Etcheverry in the third set and, after struggling to get around the court, he conceded the contest at 4-1 down.<\/p>\n
Draper, ranked 28th in the world, has been cautious during a return from an arm injury and pulled out of the recent Monte Carlo Masters<\/a> before the tournament.<\/p>\n He was absent for six months because of a bruised bone in his left serving arm, before returning to competitive action in February.<\/p>\n The Barcelona Open was Draper’s fourth event since he made his comeback.<\/p>\n Etcheverry said Draper is a “great competitor” and is keen to see him back on court again in the near future.<\/p>\n “I like how he plays – he’s a great fighter,” he said. “Hopefully he can recover as soon as he can to get back on tour because the tour likes him.”<\/p>\n