Jack Draper retires injured from Japan Open quarter-final

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Jack Draper withdrew from his quarter-final match at the Japan Open against Ugo Humbert after seeming to have difficulty due to an abdominal injury.

The US Open semi-finalist was behind 7-5 and 2-1 against the French player and was in the process of serving when he suddenly stopped due to injury during a rally.

Draper shook his head, and it was clear that his serve was affected by the injury when he exchanged a handshake with Humbert during the match.

The top British player took a break on the court when he was trailing 5-4 in the first set and received a massage on his abdominal muscles during the medical timeout.

He managed to hold his serve for a while, but came undone in the following service game as World No. 19 Humbert, who is ranked just above Draper, hit a powerful forehand winner to take the set.

Draper played three more games before deciding to step away from the match, which was temporarily interrupted by rain after the warm-up session.

Draper aimed to make it to the semi-finals in Tokyo after achieving a notable victory against the second seed, Hubert Hurkacz, in the last round.

The 22-year-old made it to the semi-finals of the US Open last month, but he had a tough time dealing with his nerves while facing Jannik Sinner in New York.

Humbert is set to face Tomas Machac in a bid to secure a spot in the final. Arthur Fils, Ben Shelton, Kei Nishikori, and Holger Rune are also competing in the tournament.

Draper will aim to be ready for the ATP Masters tournament in Shanghai next week, which is one of the major events of the indoor season.