Jack Draper’s return to ATP Tour motion got here to an finish on Wednesday as he was crushed by Arthur Rinderknech in a gruelling three-set encounter on the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Taking part in on tour for the primary time since final summer time’s US Open after an harm lay-off, Draper received his opening match on Monday however didn’t advance to the quarter-finals as Rinderknech received 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 in a contest that lasted virtually two and a half hours.
Whereas the defeat might be disappointing for Draper, the actual fact he was capable of compete in such a prolonged encounter having spent so many months nursing “bone bruising” in his left arm might be of some encouragement.
Draper struggled to make inroads on Rinderknech’s serve all through the competition, with the Frenchman making 71 per cent of his first serves and profitable 84 per cent of these factors.
That restricted Draper to only two break factors in the whole match, neither of which he was capable of take.
The 24-year-old Brit confirmed loads of grit in forcing a decider as he saved three break factors within the second set earlier than taking it on a tiebreak.
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Draper stated he was relishing a return to the ATP Tour after a protracted spell on the sidelines with harm
Nonetheless, Rinderknech broke within the third sport of the deciding set, and served fantastically from there on to disclaim Draper a route again into the match.
Rinderknech goes on to face fifth seed Andrey Rublev within the final eight, with the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev and Jakub Mensik additionally nonetheless remaining in a robust draw.
The large query for Draper might be whether or not he can proceed his comeback at subsequent month’s Masters 1000 tournaments within the US, with the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells first up earlier than the Miami Open.
Jones knocked out in Austin
Britain’s Fran Jones made a first-round exit on the ATX Open in Austin as Peyton Stearns recovered from a set right down to edge a closely-fought contest.
Residence favorite Stearns reeled off the primary three video games, however Jones took the subsequent seven to win the primary set and maintain in the beginning of the second.
However the 25-year-old started to battle together with her serve and was damaged in six of her final seven service video games as Stearns wrapped up a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
It was Jones’ first match since she left the courtroom in tears on the Australian Open after pulling out of her opening match with a leg harm.
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