British No 1 Jack Draper has vowed not to hold back at this year’s US Open, despite a niggling arm injury which has kept him out of competitive singles action for several weeks.
Draper revealed he had been playing with pain in his left arm that was diagnosed as bone bruising, forcing him to miss the Masters 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati.
He is back at the scene of his run to the semi-finals 12 months ago but his opening-round match against world No 127 Federico Gomez – second on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday – will be his first since his shock second-round loss to Marin Cilic at Wimbledon in early July.
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Highlights of the mixed doubles semi-final between Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula against Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud
“I first started feeling it towards the middle of the clay season,” he said. “I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve, as well.
“It kind of got progressively a bit worse. Then on the grass it got quite painful. I didn’t know what I was dealing with. After the grass, I got it checked out. I had some bone stress, bone bruising, in my humerus on my left side.
“It is one of those where, if you keep playing with it, it could become very serious. I had to take some time out. Saying that, it was not so bad, because I could obviously do a lot of other things physically. It wasn’t like I had to stop completely.
“Tough injury to have, but definitely one where I had to look after it.”
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Pegula wasn’t best pleased with partner Draper calling the US Open mixed doubles an ‘exhibition’ tournament
After winning his first Masters tournament in Indian Wells in March, Draper was the form player on the tour, and he is optimistic the injury will not affect his chances in New York.
“I have been training a lot the last month or so, physically really pushed myself hard, and that makes me feel mentally really good about myself,” said the 23-year-old.
“I’m just really excited to be back here at the US Open and back competing, doing what I like doing best.
“It’s an injury which takes time to heal. It might be giving me some discomfort, that’s for sure. It’s not something which I’m going to go out on Monday and feel like it’s holding me back at all.”
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Sky Sports Tennis commentator Jonathan Overend shares his opinion on Emma Raducanu and Draper’s chances of success at US Open
Draper has at least already played some competitive points at Flushing Meadows this year having made it to the semi-finals of the revamped mixed doubles alongside American Jessica Pegula.
He hopes that will prevent any rust, saying: “It was kind of perfect for me because I hadn’t had any competition, I hadn’t felt that feeling of playing in front of people and that sort of stuff for a little while.
“It was a really positive experience for myself, and I definitely feel a lot sharper having played that as opposed to maybe having a training week.”
Can Draper close to gap on Sinner and Alcaraz?
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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz discuss their rivalry, their differences and how they push each other to become better players
Draper also feels world No 1 Jannik Sinner and his rival Carlos Alcaraz remain streaks ahead of the chasing pack. The duo have won 15 out of the last 16 tournaments in which they both played.
“I think those guys are the most consistent, the most, you know, their level is definitely above the rest of us right now,” he said.
“But there is a lot of players who want to keep on improving, want to keep on developing to get to where they’re at.
“I think no one likes to see players just being very dominant. What they have both done, what they have brought to the sport, the matches they have played, like the French Open and Wimbledon – as a player, that’s very motivating to see.
“I’m obviously very happy for them because they’re both amazing guys but at the same time I don’t want to feel like we’re just letting them do it. I want to keep on going after them, keep on improving, and hopefully soon we’ll be competing with them.”
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