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Jack Draper was forced to retire in the third set of his Barcelona opener with Tomás Etcheverry on Monday afternoon. The Briton looked off the pace as he battled with his Argentine opponent, despite taking the first set 6-3.

Etcheverry managed to pull the second set back with the same score to force a decider, but Draper lasted just five games before he had to step away. At 4-1 down, the match took a momentary break in play as the 24-year-old took a medical time out. But minutes later, he was forced to concede.

Pictures showed the Londoner looking dejected as he shook hands with Etcheverry at the net, while the result of the match was read out by the court-side umpire. The commentary team were also heard saying: "Well unfortunately, that is the end of the road."

While it is unknown as to what the injury that Draper sustained during his match which forced him out of contention is, it is understood to be a different one to the bone bruising in his left humerus which has kept him away from the sport for the last six months. Draper was also missing from the recent Monte Carlo Masters after losing his opener in Miami against Reilly Opelka 7-6 7-6.

And giving an update on his condition ahead of this week's contest under the Spanish sun, Draper explained that his decision to skip Monte Carlo wasn't made lightly. He told ATP media: "Hard decision, Monte Carlo is definitely one of the tournaments the last couple of years I've really enjoyed being at and playing.

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"Beautiful event. But on the same sense, I think I've been off the tour for so long, that after the trip to the States that I did, it definitely gave me some lessons on what I need to improve.

"I think, with the injury I've had, I've not really been able to train properly and really work on my game. I've kind of been in survival mode a little bit to get back on the match court and back on the tour. So I knew I needed a couple of weeks to really put in some work and earn the right to hopefully rise up the rankings again.

"That decision was purely about the tennis. There's no doubt that the injury I had with my arm, I'm still having to manage it and understand it, and definitely do all of the right things for my body. But I'm going in the right direction with everything. It's a slow process, but I feel like I'm going in the right direction."

It will come as a major blow to Draper's plans of playing as much as possible on the ATP Tour this season, given he added ahead of Barcelona: "That's very much the plan. The plan is to play Madrid, Rome, French, and go full schedule as much as I can.

"I think I've got enough training, enough miles in the tank to do that now. I don't know how my results are going to be, but I'm enjoying being back out on the tour, and I'm looking forward to getting my momentum back."