Jack Draper’s return to ATP Tour action came to an end on Wednesday as he was beaten by Arthur Rinderknech in a gruelling three-set encounter at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Playing on tour for the first time since last summer’s US Open after an injury lay-off, Draper won his opening match on Monday but failed to advance to the quarter-finals as Rinderknech won 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 in a contest that lasted almost two and a half hours.
While the defeat will be disappointing for Draper, the fact he was able to compete in such a lengthy encounter having spent so many months nursing “bone bruising” in his left arm will be of some encouragement.
Draper struggled to make inroads on Rinderknech’s serve throughout the contest, with the Frenchman making 71 per cent of his first serves and winning 84 per cent of those points.
That limited Draper to just two break points in the entire match, neither of which he was able to take.
The 24-year-old Brit showed plenty of grit in forcing a decider as he saved three break points in the second set before taking it on a tiebreak.
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Draper said he was relishing a return to the ATP Tour after a long spell on the sidelines with injury
However, Rinderknech broke in the third game of the deciding set, and served superbly from there on to deny Draper a route back into the match.
Rinderknech goes on to face fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the last eight, with the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Jakub Mensik also still remaining in a strong draw.
The big question for Draper will be whether he can continue his comeback at next month’s Masters 1000 tournaments in the US, with the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells first up before the Miami Open.
Jones knocked out in Austin
Britain’s Fran Jones made a first-round exit at the ATX Open in Austin as Peyton Stearns recovered from a set down to edge a closely-fought contest.
Home favourite Stearns reeled off the first three games, but Jones took the next seven to win the first set and hold at the start of the second.
But the 25-year-old began to struggle with her serve and was broken in six of her last seven service games as Stearns wrapped up a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
It was Jones’ first match since she left the court in tears at the Australian Open after pulling out of her opening match with a leg injury.
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