Shoulder injury rules Jack Draper out of Wimbledon

Jack Draper will miss Wimbledon with the shoulder injury he suffered at the French Open last week.

It is a huge blow to the 21-year-old, whose progress has been disrupted by a series of injuries.

The latest came in practice ahead of his first-round clash at Roland Garros last Monday against Tomas Etcheverry, with Draper forced to serve underarm before calling it a day after only one game of the second set.

While hugely disappointed that his body had again let him down, Draper was optimistic the problem with his left shoulder would not disrupt his grass-court campaign too much.

However, having had a scan and seen a specialist, Draper has decided to miss the whole of the British summer season.

Draper wrote on Instagram: “It’s clear my shoulder is going to need time and rehab to get back to where it needs to be. My team and I have made the difficult decision to miss the grass court season this year.

“I guess in this sport there are so many ups and downs but this one is tough to take. The only thing for sure is that I will keep persevering.”

He is optimistic he will not need surgery and is hoping to return to the match court in mid to late July.

When he has been fit, Draper has shown he has the potential to be among the best in the world but that has not been nearly as often as he would have liked.

Last season a promising run to the third round of the US Open was ended by a leg injury and, after illness disrupted his pre-season, Draper has already missed large chunks of this year with hip and abdominal problems.

In Paris last week the Londoner said he felt “mentally destroyed”, adding: “I hate being the guy who is injured a lot.”

Draper made his Wimbledon debut in 2021, losing to Novak Djokovic, while last year he pushed Alex De Minaur to four sets in the second round.

His absence also means that neither of Britain’s biggest young stars will play at the All England Club, with Emma Raducanu sidelined until late summer at the earliest following operations on both her wrists and one ankle.