Wimbledon: British star Jack Draper out of Grand Slam due to recurrence of arm injury

British star Jack Draper has been ruled out of Wimbledon due to a recurrence of an arm injury. <p>It is a devastating blow for the 24-year-old, who finally appeared to have put his latest fitness struggles behind him after a hugely difficult year in which he has played only a handful of tournaments.</p><p>Draper followed <strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32498/13558321/emma-raducanu-out-of-wimbledon-british-no-1-withdraws-following-foot-injury-as-frustrating-season-continues">Emma Raducanu in withdrawing from the Grand Slam in a nightmare 24 hours for British tennis</a></strong>.</p><p>There was further doom and gloom with a total of 10 Brits being sent packing on the opening day of the Championships.</p><p><strong>Cameron Norrie </strong>and <strong>Harriet Dart</strong> were also among a number of Brits who crashed out in the first round.</p><widget id="4"></widget><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/scores-schedule"><strong>Latest Wimbledon scores and results</strong></a> 🎾</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32498/13557566/wimbledon-2026-mens-draw-schedule-results-including-jack-draper-jannik-sinner-and-novak-djokovic">Men's singles draw</a> I <a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/12110/13557572/wimbledon-2026-womens-draw-schedule-results-including-emma-raducanu-serena-williams-aryna-sabalenka-and-iga-swiatek">Women's singles draw</a> I <a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32502/13557578/wimbledon-2026-order-of-play-and-match-schedule-for-centre-court-no-1-court-no-2-court-and-more">Order of Play</a>📝</strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download Sky Sports app for analysis, news and video</strong></a></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? <a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank">Get Sky Sports</a> or <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank">stream with no contract</a></strong></li></ul> <widget id="1"></widget><p>Draper, the former world No 4, had been due to face sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Centre Court on Tuesday, said: "Devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury.</p><p>"There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months but this one is definitely the absolute worst as there is no greater honour for a British player than playing at Wimbledon.</p><p>"I will continue to persevere through this.</p><p>"Thank you for the support!!"</p><p>Draper's troubles began after Wimbledon last year, when he took nearly seven months off with bone bruising in his arm, and he then missed almost the entire clay-court season due to a knee injury.</p><h3>An injury crisis in elite tennis?</h3> <widget id="3"></widget><p>It's a bitter, bitter blow for former British No 1 Draper, who had just returned to competition after being afflicted by injuries for months.</p><p>Now physical issues mean neither of British tennis' biggest stars, Draper and Raducanu can take part in Wimbledon this year.</p><p>Only on Sunday Draper himself was raising concerns about the injury crisis in elite tennis.</p><p>He said: "Last year I would say I did well in the Masters 1000s. I was really trying to develop my game and push my game more and more every week to reach those guys like [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner, who obviously play at an incredibly high level.</p><p>"I just broke down."</p> <widget id="2"></widget><p>He added: "I think it's pretty worrying the state of men's tennis, especially right now. The amount of injuries, especially through young players, [Lorenzo] Musetti, I know [Arthur] Fils has had a lot of trouble, Alcaraz's wrist. When I look at the draws for the weeks when I was out, everything is shoulder, arm, wrist. Whether that's the quality of the balls... I don't think there's more matches nowadays and stuff.</p><p>"I think definitely the way athletes are getting better and hitting the ball harder and moving better, I think it's my opinion they need to really take a close look at what we're doing on tour. Definitely the state of the Masters 1000s, the 12-day events.</p><p>"I was privy to those conversations when I was a top-10 player. Now I'm not.</p><p>"I think the tournaments are going to suffer a lot if not much changes. I think it's a really important topic. I hope that as time goes on things do change."</p><h3>Awful day for British tennis as 10 homegrown players are knocked out</h3><p>All 10 home players who completed their matches on Monday suffered an early exit at the Championships.</p><p>The tally of losses is the worst for the home nation since daily records began in 2000.</p><p><strong>Fran Jones</strong>, who became the final faller when she lost 6-4 6-4 to France's Diane Parry, said: "It will create bad headlines, probably slightly unfairly. I think, with some of the draws that people are handed, it was always going to be difficult.</p><p>"But no one can hide from the heaviness of Wimbledon. It's important to everyone, and I'm sure it played a factor being at the home slam."</p> <widget id="5"></widget><p>Norrie's defeat by American Michael Zheng was undoubtedly the most disappointing of the day, although the qualifier played a terrific match to win in a fifth-set tie-break.</p><p>Dart was close to pulling off a sizeable upset against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, eventually losing out 6-3 3-6 6-4.</p><p>Qualifier <strong>Oliver Tarvet</strong>, who lost in the second round to Carlos Alcaraz last year, also played at a high level in a four-hour battle against 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech but was unable to force a deciding set.</p><p>Britain's teenage trio of <strong>Mimi Xu</strong>, <strong>Hannah Klugman</strong> and <strong>Mika Stojsavljevic</strong> were also among the losers after being handed very difficult draws.</p><p>Elsewhere, wild card <strong>Felix Gill</strong> was beaten by rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar while fellow debutants <strong>Alicia Dudeney</strong> and <strong>Max Basing</strong> also lost.</p><p><strong>Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, live on Sky Sports or <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">stream with NOW</a> and the <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12572660/download-the-sky-sports-app-premier-league-goals-f1-race-control-and-more-at-your-fingertips">Sky Sports app</a>, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13131189/sky-sports-plus-launches-in-august-to-give-more-choice-to-fans-via-live-streams-app-and-new-channel">Find out more here.</a></strong></p>