Jack Draper has been committed to his tennis in Indian Wells. The British No. 1 has torn through the singles draw, but he also entered the doubles in a bid to play some extra matches and improve his game. Draper paired up with Czech star Tomas Machac, someone he’s previously played doubles with.
The team won their opening match but had a tough test in round two, facing the top seeds, and ultimately lost. But Draper had some fun with Machac during the match, imitating his partner with a revealing action.
Like Draper, Machac is mainly a singles player. The world No. 20 has earned some huge wins in his career, beating Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
But he’s also been successful in doubles, winning an Olympic gold medal in the mixed event with Katerina Siniakova last year.
Draper has experience playing with Machac – they also teamed up in Tokyo last September – so he enlisted the 24-year-old as his partner in Indian Wells this fortnight.
Their run ended in the second round on Tuesday as they suffered a 6-1 7-5 defeat to world No. 1s Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo. However, they still managed to keep spirits high during the tough match.
After letting the first set get away from them, the Brit attempted to lighten the mood at 1-1 in set two. As Draper and Machac walked to their bench, the 23-year-old hitched up his shorts to expose his thighs, copying his partner.
Machac has a reputation for wearing some of the shortest shorts on the tour. And he loved Draper’s tribute to his revealing attire, laughing as the world No. 14 continued to roll up the fabric during the changeover.
The fans on Court 3 also appreciated the hilarious gesture, cheering and wolf-whistling as Draper made himself some makeshift short-shorts.
Both men soon loosened up and made the second set a much tighter contest but they still lost in straight sets.
Draper still has singles to focus on as he faces Taylor Fritz in the round of 16. But Machac’s time in Indian Wells is now over as was forced to retire in his opening singles match against Yosuke Watanuki.
Earlier this week, the Brit explained why he was keen to play both singles and doubles in Indian Wells. “I feel physically good, I feel mentally good,” he told Sky Sports.
“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.”