There was a real feeling of deja-vu when British No.1 Jack Draper said au revoir to the French Open after his fourth round defeat. The big left-hander had been compared with Rafa Nadal during the claycourt Grand Slam because of his fearsome forehand and physical presence. But the Spanish superstar was a freak of nature who won on his Roland Garros debut as a teenager.
And his slower progress towards a first Major title is more like a tennis legend closer to home – our own Andy Murray.
Draper’s press conference following his loss to the inspired Alexander Bublik had the same post-mortem feel of Murray’s Grand Slam exits.
The Scot was then trying to catch and beat Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Now the Englishman is striving to close the gap on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the current top two and the winners of the last five Majors. “I still think I’m a long way behind those boys,” he admitted.
Murray won his first Major at the US Open at his 28th attempt with his 100th Grand Slam match win after reaching and losing four finals and six semi-finals. He was 25 and went on to win three and two Olympic golds.
US Open semi-finalist Draper, now 23, has played 12 Grand Slams where he has won 19 matches but his progress has been stymied by injuries.
The world No.5, who was No.39 this time last year, said: “My journey, it’s always been a steep learning curve for me. There’s always been a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries, a lot of setbacks. This is another one of those tough matches. I’ll learn from it and I’ll get better, and I’ll use it to my advantage.”
It sounded just like pre-Major Murray winning. Tim Henman told TNT Sports: “This was a great opportunity. He wanted the opportunity of playing Sinner in the quarters, but he’s so young, he’s still got so many more opportunities. I think he will learn an enormous amount from this loss, as is often the case. And right around the corner, there are more opportunities, and that’s grass courts, that’s playing at home, that’s Queen’s and Wimbledon. So I think there are so many positives for Draper.”
The British No.1 will not defend the title he won on the Stuttgart grass last year and will focus on preparing for the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club and then Wimbledon. His big leftie serve is a huge weapon on grass.
And he has quickly learned – and this took Murray longer – to also use playing at home in the summer as an advantage.
Draper has admitted suffering from anxiety but said his vomiting at the US Open had been due to “taking lots of painkillers”. The 6ft4in Burberry model added: “It’s weird, when I’m on the tennis court, it’s probably the place I’m least anxious in a way. I feel great when I’m on a tennis court, so I’ve learned a lot about my body.
“I think Wimbledon will be an experience for me, for sure. I don’t know what to expect. I feel confident. I feel happy. I’ve had a lot of experiences this year where I’m playing Australians in Australia and Frenchies in France.
“There’s not been many places where I have the crowd with me, so that will be nice to hopefully be at home and have the crowd with me. I feel like I’m still playing amazing tennis. Let’s see what I can do there.”
