Jack Draper was ‘disappointed’ in his Italian Open defeat to Carlos Alcaraz – particularly how he fared ‘from a mental and emotional point of view’. The Brit came down hard on himself in a frank assessment of his efforts after losing 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals in Rome.
It’s been all go for Draper over the past three weeks. He played six matches in Madrid, where he lost to Casper Ruud in the final, and then had only five days to recover before he was back out on the clay against Luciano Darderi in Italy. Draper made light work of his first two opponents, but his three-set win over Corentin Moutet on Tuesday was a taxing affair.
The very next day he went up against one of the most physical players on tour. And despite going toe-to-toe with Alcaraz for spells of their quarter-final showdown, he ultimately came up short against the third seed.
“I obviously lost to a great player today,” Draper admitted. “I’m very disappointed with the way I performed in a way, I think from a mental and emotional point of view. Like, obviously, you could say that’s normal, I’ve had a tough four weeks. I don’t want to be normal. I want to be right up there.”
He added: “It hurts a lot, this kind of loss. But like I said, Carlos played a really good match and he was the better player. I have to accept that, go back to the drawing board, really prepare well for the French Open, know that I’m hopefully going to have many more chances against these great players.”
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