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British number one Jack Draper said he felt “really proud” after marking his post-injury return to action on the ATP Tour with a straight-set victory over Frenchman Quentin Halys in Dubai.<\/b><\/p>\n
Competing on the men’s tour for the first time since the US Open last August, Draper won 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 on his debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old, who has slipped to 15th in the world after reaching a career-high ranking of fourth in June, will play Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan or France’s Arthur Rinderknech next.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been craving the feeling of competing for a very long time,” Draper said in his post-match interview.<\/p>\n
“It just felt normal, it felt like I was coming back to doing what I love, which is being out here, competing and having the adrenaline of winning and losing points.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people have helped me to get back to this position after a lot of down moments [during] the last eight months.<\/p>\n
“It’s not been easy to be back here and that’s something I can be really proud of. Long may it continue.”<\/p>\n
Draper contested his first competitive match for 164 days when he played at the Davis Cup qualifiers earlier in February, beating Norway’s Viktor Durasovic<\/a> in straight sets.<\/p>\n But he had remained absent from tour singles competition since withdrawing from the US Open before his second-round match because of a left arm injury six months ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n