Draper withdraws, Raducanu makes winning start at Queen's Club

Britain's Jack Draper pulled out of next week's Queen's Club ATP tournament on Tuesday, while Emma Raducanu returned to winning ways with a first-round win over Anna Blinkova.

Draper said he would delay his comeback from a knee injury for another week as he aims to return at Wimbledon.

The British number three last time represented his country at the Barcelona claycourt event in April.

Draper played the semi-final at Queen’s last year and the tournament will suffer a blow due to his absence, as several big names, including 2025 champion Carlos Alcaraz, are already out of the event.

"Recovery is going in the right direction, but I'm going to give myself one more week and aim to return at Eastbourne," the former world number four said in a statement.

"It's very hard to miss one of my favourite events of the year."

Meanwhile, home favourite Raducanu made a winning start to Queen's Club WTA, winning her first match since March as she swept past Russian Blinkova 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round on Tuesday.

The British number one has endured a tough year as her court time was restricted by injury and illness, and she was knocked out of the French Open in the first round.

But the 2021 US Open champion, who has recently appointed her former coach Andrew Richardson, produced a confident display on the slick grass courts against the qualifier as she began her preparations for Wimbledon.

"The way I was moving, the way I was expressing, just the whole package, not necessarily the tennis, just how I was acting on the court," the 23-year-old said.

"I really enjoyed it and I think that's something that I want to take forward in all my matches and really embrace this grass-court season."

Raducanu will face Romanian seventh seed Sorana Cirstea in the next round.