Draper

Draper was modelling next summer’s collection for one of his sponsors last week and has been working out regularly at the National Tennis Centre in London this week.

The work is primarily physical at the moment, and when pre-season training begins in earnest later this month, the initial on-court drills are likely to be low in intensity.

The British number one first felt discomfort in his upper left serving arm during the clay court season in the spring, and following a scan after Wimbledon, did not hit any serves for a month.

But the period of rest proved insufficient. He won his first-round match at the US Open, but withdrew before the second, and the opportunity to make his debut at the season ending ATP Finals was gone.

”He’s top 10 and he played half of the year. Just to say how good he is…” Mouratoglou added.

“His only problem for the moment is the injuries: he has been through several injuries already in the past.

“I always thought he was going to be a top player, but for every player that is supposed to become a top player, there are things to solve.

“For him, it’s to find a way to be injury free as much as possible because that’s what made him lose a little bit of time otherwise he would be higher [in the rankings], I think.”

Draper said before the tournament that he was “ready to go” despite struggling with a bruised humerus – the bone that runs from the shoulder to elbow – on his left serving arm.

He arrived in New York having not played since his second-round defeat at Wimbledon in early July, having withdrawn from key tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati in order to recover.

The Englishman competed in the US Open mixed doubles tournament alongside Jessica Pegula last week and wore a sleeve on his injured arm during his first-round match.

He admitted afterwards his presence at the tournament had been in doubt, saying: “I wasn’t too sure if I was going to make it here.”

Draper practised in New York on Wednesday morning but later announced he would be unable to continue in the tournament.

It is a bitter blow for the Briton, who had his breakout major performance in New York last year.

His ranking points from his run to the last four will drop off after the tournament, which could impact his bid to qualify for the year-end ATP Tour Finals.

A “nervous” Norrie was worried about being first on court at 11:00 local time and need to fuel up before playing an opponent who was ranked inside the top 20 a year ago – and against whom he had lost three of four past meetings.

Ultimately the 30-year-old did not need to be overly concerned, as Norrie was leading 7-5 6-4 when Korda, 25, ended the match early.

American Korda only returned to tour action last week following a near three-month shin stress fracture lay-off.

He called a medical timeout at the start of the second set against Norrie when he appeared to be struggling with an abdominal issue.

Although Korda persevered for the remainder of the set he was unwilling to go any further, sending Norrie through to face either Argentine Francisco Comesana or American Alex Michelsen.

Norrie, who withdrew from the 2024 US Open with an arm injury, made his debut at Flushing Meadows in 2017 but still feels the nerves in New York.

“I was very nervous for the match,” said Norrie.

“Playing a Grand Slam match at 11am and trying to get rice down at 10am is not easy!”

On Korda’s retirement, Norrie said: “I feel for Sebastian. He’s been out the whole summer, he’s an amazing talent and he’s beaten me the last few times we’ve played.

“It’s tough to see him ending like that.”

An excitable atmosphere continued as the fans – who paid between $25 (£18.50) and $145 (£107) for what British doubles player Jamie Murray described as a “glorified exhibition” – danced to tunes played by an on-court DJ and acted up when appearing on the big screen.

Both sets of players smiled and laughed throughout, further illustrating how the stars are using the event to tune up for their greater priority of the singles.

For some, it underlined the view of the doubles specialists sidelined that a Grand Slam tournament had lost value.

Pegula, who has been ranked world number one in the women’s doubles, and Draper were also a scratch pairing but had too much quality against a pair who are less experienced in tour-level doubles.

For Draper, it was third time lucky – having seen previous planned partners Zheng Qinwen and Paula Badosa withdraw through injury.

Pegula and Draper’s mutual will-to-win was more evident than some of the pairings, looking focused as they later beat Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev to reach the last four.

The Russian pair earlier knocked out 24-time major singles champion Novak Djokovic and his fellow Serb Olga Danilovic in the first round,

There was the loss of another star name before Tuesday’s play started, when men’s world number one Jannik Sinner withdrew through illness.

British number ones Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper will face each other in this week’s new-look US Open mixed doubles event in New York.

Raducanu, 22, is partnering five-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz, while Draper, 23, will play with American Jessica Pegula after their original partners, Tommy Paul and Paula Badosa, both withdrew.

Organisers were heavily criticised in February after announcing that the mixed doubles competition would be a standalone event on 19-20 August – before the singles tournament begins on 24 August.

The 16 pairs involved will compete for $1m (£749,077) at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu, who won the US Open title in 2021, and Spaniard Alcaraz have been handed a wildcard entry for the two-day tournament.

Before the event, Alcaraz, 22, is taking on world number one Jannik Sinner for the fourth time this season, in the final of the Cincinnati Open in Ohio on Monday.

Italian Sinner, 24, who is also a wildcard entrant, has been re-paired with Czech Katerina Siniakova after his partner, American Emma Navarro, withdrew.

Draper and Pegula, meanwhile, have qualified directly and have been given the top seeding, because both players are inside the top five in the singles rankings.

The first two rounds will take place on Tuesday and the semi-finals and final will be played on Wednesday.

Just four games will be required to win a set in matches before the final, with no-advantage scoring (four points will be needed to win a game) and 10-point match tie-breaks instead of a third set throughout.