- Britain's Jack Draper was forced to retire early from his ATP Tour debut after appearing to collapse on the court.
- The 19-year-old was facing Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round of the
Miami Open . - Temperatures were as high as 86° on the day.
19-year-old British tennis star Jack Draper was forced to retire early from his ATP Tour debut after he appeared to collapse mid-point during the first set.
Facing Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round of the Miami Open in sweltering 86°C conditions on Thursday, Draper was trailing 5-6 when he had his heart-rate checked by medics as he visibly struggled to cope with the heat.
Shortly after opting to play on, his legs buckled under him as he chased a return on set point, and he appeared to collapse, though video footage suggests he didn't lose consciousness.
Medics ran to his attention, treating him with an ice pack before he was able to leave the court unaided and the walkover was awarded to Kukushkin.
"At the changeover, I was starting to feel my body a bit," Draper said after. "I said that I'm going to carry on because I wasn't feeling faint. But obviously when I got out there, that wasn't the case.
Draper went on to say that he simply tripped over because he was feeling unwell, however video suggests that his legs buckled under him, rather than tripping.
"On the last point, I didn't collapse. I actually just tripped because I was starting to feel really dizzy and stuff."
Draper added that he believes his battle with COVID-19 in January, which saw him sidelined for two weeks, may have contributed to his collapse.
"It's obviously an extremely aggressive virus and you can catch it from anywhere, but I got it and it did affect me quite badly for seven days," he said.
"I had bad symptoms and then I recovered pretty quickly from there, but it definitely had an effect on me. I've put in loads of great training since then, so it's no excuse, but did it have an effect on me at the time? Probably.
"With a lot of these things you don't know how much it really affects you."
Kukushkin faces Aslan Karatsev in the tournament's second round on Saturday.