Britain’s Jack Draper says he is “devastated” after withdrawing from Wimbledon just 24 hours before his first-round match with a long-term arm injury.

Draper, fresh off a run to the Eastbourne semi-finals last week, was due to face American sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Centre Court on Tuesday.

However, the arm problem that stopped him playing for most of the past year has once again prevented him from competing in a Grand Slam.

“I’m devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury,” said Draper.

“There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months, but this one is definitely the absolute worst.”

It is the second significant injury blow for British interest, following Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal on Sunday because of a stress fracture in her right leg.

Draper spoke to media at Wimbledon on Sunday and gave no indication he was struggling again with the bone bruising in his serving arm.

However, Draper did say he felt the amount of injuries suffered by leading players is “pretty worrying”.

The 24-year-old said of his injury setbacks: “It’s been an incredibly long process.

“It’s taken a lot out of me mentally coming back and back and back.”

Former British number one Draper has only played 15 matches in the past 12 months, largely because of the bruised humerus that has been bothering him for over a year.

His initial comeback earlier this season was derailed by tendinitis in his knee and the 2024 US Open semi-finalist had not played for over two months before his return at Eastbourne last week.

Missing a third successive Grand Slam tournament – particularly his home major – is a huge blow.

The former world number four has not played a major since the US Open in September.

The arm problem first flared up during the 2025 clay-court season and he struggled with the issue at last year’s Wimbledon, where he lost to Croat veteran Marin Cilic in the second round.

After winning one match at Flushing Meadows in New York, he decided he could not continue in the tournament and ultimately ended his season early.

Draper made his return to the ATP Tour in February and reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells in March, where he was the defending champion – and beat Novak Djokovic on the way.

However, he retired from his only match of the clay swing in Barcelona in April.

After skipping the rest of the clay season, Draper withdrew from Queen’s, saying his recovery was “going in the right direction” but he needed “one more week” before returning to Eastbourne.