Jack Draper admitted it was “mentally tough” to come back out and face Luciano Darderi and the Italian crowd just days after suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the Madrid Open final. The Brit finished runner-up at the Caja Magica, losing to Casper Ruud on Sunday and admitting his opponent played better in the important moments.
Draper, who is now ranked at a career-high of No.5 in the world, briefly flew home before heading to Rome for the Italian Open, where he came through his opening match 6-1 6-4. The 23-year-old raced through the opening set in 25 minutes before Darderi raised his level and it became a “dogfight”.
The fifth seed managed to save all seven break points he faced, fending off a late resurgence from the world No. 46, and won the match courtesy of a double fault from Darderi.
Draper was playing his first match since losing in the recent Madrid final and admitted it was difficult to bounce back and deal with the Italian fans after a demanding fortnight.
“More than anything it was just mentally tough after the last couple of weeks, coming out here again and having to face all of that and just staying cool. I’m proud of myself I did a good job,” he told Sky Sports.
But the Brit thrives in front of a loud audience, whether or not they’re in his corner. “It’s what I play for,” he added.
“I think playing in front of lots of people, regardless of whether they’re with me or against me. I experienced it in Australia this year against [Thanasi] Kokkinakis and [Aleksandar] Vukic, that was 10 times crazier than this.”
While Draper is always happy to face the crowd, he admitted he couldn’t let his energy dip again after suffering a brief lapse against Darderi.
“I think my concentration slipped a little bit, I started getting a little bit flat. I think I started off really well, I was looking for the forehand, I was coming forward well,” he explained.
“Just in the second set, a couple of missed returns, a couple of balls here and there that were a bit sloppy, and then it was a dogfight. He came out, he started picking up his energy, the crowd started getting up with him.
“It became a little bit tight in the end there but I think I did a really good job of being able to stay calm and come through,
“I think in the first set I was moving up the court, I was being the aggressive one and then in the second set, I found my energy dipped a little bit and then he started finding my backhand a little bit more so it was harder for me to be on the front foot and look for the forehand and be aggressive.
“The conditions I think got a little bit cooler but I think I did well in the end, good job of making that extra ball, making him play, I neutralised pretty well. I think I’ve just got to keep my energy up throughout the match.”
Draper will next face Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. The world No. 92 earned his first match win at Masters level this week and now finds himself in the third round.