Jack Draper showed his class after advancing to the round of 16 in Indian Wells, as he wrote a kind message to his opponent on the camera lens. The British No. 1 came back from a break down in the first set to beat Jenson Brooksby 7-5 6-4 on Monday. After the match, Draper could be seen telling Brooksby something at the net and he later applauded his rival off the court.
Brooksby spent two years sidelined from tennis due to injury issues and a suspension relating to missed doping tests, which was later reduced. And Draper was delighted to see the former world No. 33 back on the court and playing some of his best tennis again.
After booking his spot in round four, Draper paid tribute to Brooksby when asked to sign the camera. “Good to have a great player back” the 13th seed wrote.
The Brit had beaten Brooksby in their previous two meetings, which came before the American’s two-year absence from the sport. But he had trouble in their third-round meeting in the Californian desert, going 1-4 down in the first set.
Draper wasn’t surprised that he struggled early on. “I mean, I felt confident,” he told Sky Sports.
“Jenson is someone who makes life very difficult for players and I didn’t really know what to expect, he hasn’t played for a while and I haven’t seen him play.
“It wasn’t the cleanest performance from my side today, like I had a lot that I could’ve improved on and a lot of chances that I missed. But that’s tennis, you can’t play your best the whole time. I’m glad with the way I stayed calm and just kept on going got the win in the end.”
Brooksby only returned to competition in January and his ranking has dropped outside the top 900. But he had already earned a big win in Indian Wells, taking out 17th seed Auger-Aliassime in the previous round, and Draper knew he would come out swinging.
The 23-year-old continued: “I knew from the first ball he was going to know what to expect. I played him twice and both times it went my way.
“He’s a fighter, he’s a competitor so I knew he was going to want his revenge today and I’m glad that I was able to fend him off in those key moments and come through strong in the end.”
Draper will now play either Taylor Fritz or Alejandro Tabilo in the fourth round. The British No. 1 is also in action in the doubles, pairing with Czech star Tomas Machac, and he intends to keep competing in both draws.
“I feel physically good, I feel mentally good,” he explained. “I think you see a lot of top players go out this week especially because the conditions are so different. Sometimes you just have to accept it’s not going to be your best tennis and a lot of that is how I’m feeling.
“I feel like I’m hitting the ball well, I feel good but sometimes it’s not quite coming off the racket the way I want it to. So I accept that and hopefully next round I can get things a little bit better again.”
The conditions in the Californian desert can prove tricky for players – but Draper doesn’t want to make too many changes to his game. “I’ve learnt from previous years that you can kind of overthink it a lot,” he added.
“Maybe trying to get a more slice on my serve because the flat just flies a bit too much. Trying to aim for shorter, big margins – meaning not trying to go as close to the lines. It’s difficult, you take it each ball as it comes.”