ISLAMABAD
\nBritish number one Jack Draper ran out of steam at the Australian Open as he retired injured against Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round.
\nDraper, seeded 15th, called a halt to the match when trailing 7-5 6-1 against four-time major champion Alcaraz on a hot day in Melbourne.
\nThe 23-year-old left-hander, who came into the tournament with a hip injury, needed treatment off the court after the first set before abandoning the contest when the second quickly slipped away.
\n\u201cAfter how much I have played, I didn\u2019t pull up amazingly well,\u201d said Draper.
\nBefore this Australian Open campaign, he had not played competitively since the end of October.
\n\u201cI was really, really sore after I played my last match because I have been managing this hip thing,\u201d Draper said.
\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting to come this far in all honesty. With all the hours I have played, it has been a bit too much on my body.\u201d
\n\u201cFrom the third game, I felt I had multiple areas that were really in pain – especially the hip.\u201d
\nAsked if he considered not playing at all, he added: \u201cWe were managing it, I didn\u2019t feel amazing before my last match, but obviously got out there and it felt OK.
\n\u201cMaybe it\u2019s a little bit of a ticking time bomb, considering I had no preparation and no work for my body.\u201d
\nAlcaraz relieved his tension with a visceral \u201cvamos\u201d when he held for 6-5 and he then pounced to take the opening set.
\nKnowing his opponent\u2019s physical issues, Alcaraz raised the aggression of his groundstrokes to move a break ahead at 3-0 in the second set before clinically seeing it out, prompting Draper to call time on their encounter.
\n\u201cIt is not the way which I want to win,\u201d said Alcaraz.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy to play another quarter-final here in Australia, but I am sad for Jack \u2013 he doesn\u2019t deserve to be injured.
\n\u201cI wish him a speedy recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD British number one Jack Draper ran out of steam at the Australian Open as he retired injured against Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round. Draper, seeded 15th, called a halt to the match when trailing 7-5 6-1 against four-time major champion Alcaraz on a hot day in Melbourne. The 23-year-old left-hander, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-456523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n