"Laura Robson and I had breakfast with him, and he seemed to be in good spirits," Henman reacts to Draper's withdrawal before his second round at the US Open

Jack Draper will not defend the points from last year's semifinal at Flushing Meadows. After winning his first round in four sets against Federico Agustin Gomez at the US Open, the British player, ranked 5th in the world, was forced to withdraw before his match against Zizou Bergs scheduled for this Thursday in the second round.

Still suffering from a left arm injury, which had already forced him to withdraw from the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters 1000 events, the 23-year-old Draper will drop out of the top 5 after the tournament. In any case, Tim Henman expressed surprise at his young compatriot's withdrawal, as he explained to Sky Sports.

"Laura Robson and I had breakfast with him, and he seemed to be in good spirits. He must have felt that the situation wasn't ideal, but he told us he was going to train.

To compete at this level with the five-set format, you need to be physically fit to step onto the court, and it's true that he's been dealing with pain in his left arm for several months now. It's certainly disappointing that Jack had to withdraw," Henman stated. Laura Robson shared the same opinion.

"He officially announced that it was his arm causing him pain and that he couldn't recover quickly enough after his first round. He was on-site (yesterday, Wednesday) to train.

It seems like the sensations were positive, but making his comeback at the US Open was probably too soon for him. The intensity required during matches changes a lot of things.

You never know when you'll be able to step onto the court again without pain. It's definitely disappointing because he performed so well last year in this tournament, where he reached the semifinals," Robson added.