Jack Draper retired midway through his match against Carlos Alcaraz (Image: Getty)
has admitted his hip injury was a “ticking time bomb” after being forced to pull out of his clash with .
And the concerned British No.1, who said he played the event on “lots of painkillers” warned he could be forced to manage the tendinitis in his joint for the rest of his career.
Draper shook hands and retired after losing the first two sets to 7-5 6-1 in the Rod Laver Arena.
And the No.15 seed then revealed he “could not walk” with the injury before Christmas and he only re-started full training just before the first Major of the year.
He then played three five-set matches and only finished his third-round win here over Aleksandar Vukic at 12.55am on Saturday morning. And his recovery time was shortened with his match with Alcaraz scheduled as the third match on the Rod Laver Arena – they started just after 4pm – on the hottest day of the tournament so far.
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“Essentially I had tendinitis in my hip, which I had to get MRI looked at and stuff,” Draper explained. “I have had a history of problems in that area. It hasn’t gone away. I’m still dealing with that.
“Obviously in the preseason, it got into my back and I couldn’t walk and it was really difficult. I have come here and I have been managing that.
“I have been unbelievably surprised with how much I have been able to play and put my body through, more than I have ever done before, especially.
“I think it’s just one of those things, just massive overload. This area of my body, if I don’t get that right and I don’t make good decisions, I don’t want to miss three or four months because of that.
“From the third game I felt like it was getting worse. I actually woke up this morning, didn’t feel too bad. When I got out there, and with Carlos’ intensity, I’m someone who throws my body around, gives it my all.
Jack Draper could not continue against Carlos Alcaraz (Image: Getty)
“From the third game, I felt like I sort of had multiple areas that were, you know, really in pain, and especially the hip.
“I didn’t feel amazing before my last match, but obviously got out there and it felt okay. Maybe it’s a little bit of a ticking time bomb, considering I had no preparation and no work for my body.
“To come here, like, I think I have really surprised myself with how much I have been able to put myself through.”
Draper, 23, is 6ft 4ins and has fought a series of injuries during his young career.
The US Open semi-finalist continued: “I think everyone is moving so well and everyone is hitting the ball so hard, they’re obviously, with the amount of tournaments and with the amount of tennis that we play and constantly putting our body under stress and under a lot of strain when we’re moving, it’s a really, really difficult one, you know, for the hips and for the body, because you just wear and tear the whole time.
“Especially, like, big guys, as well, we’re good movers, we’re kind of throwing our body around and putting ourselves in awkward positions, it’s not easy.
“Everyone’s got their own areas where they struggle more than others, and that’s my area (hip) that I’m going to have to look after and manage for probably the rest of my career.
“I’ll just manage it the best I can, and hopefully get on a run where look after where I’m not playing with pain and be all right, and not take painkillers. I have been taking painkillers all the time. A lot. Yeah, a lot.”
Draper, who does not know how long he will be out, added: “I don’t want to get myself in a position where I’m playing through pain and playing through injury. I want to be able to show up to these events and give it my best shot and have the right preparation I need.”