\n<\/p>\n
Draper has not played a competitive singles match since his surprise Wimbledon second-round exit in early July.<\/p>\n
He pulled out of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open – both key ATP tournaments leading up to the US Open – in order to fully recover from the arm issue.<\/p>\n
After starting to feel a problem during the clay-court swing, he said it got “progressively worse” over the grass-court season which culminates at the All England Club.<\/p>\n
However, he was loath to blame the injury for his Wimbledon defeat by veteran opponent Marin Cilic.<\/p>\n
“I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve,” said Draper.<\/p>\n
“It got progressively a bit worse. Then on the grass it got quite painful. I didn’t know what I was dealing with.<\/p>\n
“After the grass, I got it checked out. It is one of those where if you keep playing with it, it could become very, very serious.<\/p>\n
“Saying that, it was not so bad because I could do a lot of other things as well physically. It wasn’t like I had to stop completely.”<\/p>\n
Draper returned to the match court when he played alongside American Jessica Pegula in the new-look mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
While it did not look like Draper went full throttle on his serve as the pair reached the semi-finals, he said it was “perfect” preparation.<\/p>\n
“In tennis, having a month and a half out is quite a long time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I definitely feel a lot sharper having played that as opposed to maybe having a training week.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n