Jack Draper reveals one ‘big positive’ after Australian Open dream dies

Jack Draper’s Australian Open dream is over for another year, but he believes he has made a huge stride in one key area after a defeat against Tommy Paul in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old had struggled physically in his opening match against Marcos Giron, escaping in five sets and then rushing to a courtside bin to vomit.

He looked to have recovered reasonably well going into the clash against American Paul, but fell to a 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5 defeat.

Despite the loss, the young Brit suggested he is heading away from Melbourne convinced he is closer to challenging the biggest names in the game, despite fitness issues in his opening match against Giron.

“I felt really good, to be honest,” he said when asked about his fitness levels against Paul.

“Very different to my first round. Physically, if it had gone to five sets, I would be feeling great, ready to play.

“That’s one big positive I can take from obviously the first slam of the year.

“I’ve really worked hard in the off-season to build up my physicality. After having so many struggles last year, it’s been an area of real focus for me.

“Forget the tennis for a minute; that’s probably the most important thing for me right now.

“I’m proud of the way I am physically to come through a five-set match, and obviously to feel like I’m three hours in against a top opponent. I feel like I could have played four, five more sets. I feel good on that aspect.”

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Draper took confidence from having beaten Paul in both of their previous meetings, including comfortably last week in Adelaide, but the 26-year-old – a semi-finalist here last year – was sharp from the start.

The match was delayed by blustery showers in Melbourne and, when it did get under way, Draper came out of the blocks slowly, dropping serve three times in the opening set.

He hit back well in the second, beginning to trouble Paul with his power game, but it was the American on top again in the third set.

The conditions certainly did not make things easy and Draper looked hugely frustrated by his inability to time the ball as consistently as he would have liked.

Paul looked on his way to victory when he broke serve again to start the fourth set, but Draper fought back well to force two set points with a nervous Paul serving at 4-5.

He could not take either, though, and a missed forehand in the next game gave Paul the chance to serve for the match, which he took.

Draper reached the final in Adelaide last week and suggested playing tournaments the week before a Grand Slam may be an area he will now reconsider.

“It seems like every tournament I’ve played before a Slam I’ve gone pretty deep. So I feel like I’ve come into the slam a bit cooked, a little bit like I’ve played a lot of tennis,” he reflected.

“That can sometimes be a good thing, but I think probably this week it hasn’t helped too much because obviously getting used to the conditions is different here.

“I think it’s also a difficult one with my ranking where it’s been at. Obviously I dropped outside of the top 100 last year.

“I was back playing challengers. I tried to grind back to a good ranking at the end of last year. I did that.

“You don’t really have much of a choice when you are 60-odd in the world, but the more I’m playing obviously my ranking is going up.

“I’ll get back inside the top 50 after the last two weeks. And obviously last week, even though it’s playing before a Slam, I still made a final at a 250, and that helps my ranking big-time.

“I’m hoping by the grass that I’m going to be in a position where I can start to prioritize the slams. I feel confident that my body is going to keep on progressing and I’m moving in the right direction.”