Jack Draper reveals alternative anger management advice as he is warned not to abuse spectators at UTS Grand Final
Jack Draper does not appear to have the hottest temper in tennis, but the Brit has been encouraged to express himself on court after taking a wild card into the UTS Grand Final in London.
The 21-year-old joins a field that includes Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune and Gael Monfils for the end of season event that is taking place at London’s ExCeL Arena this weekend.
After the young Brit admitted he had been given a crash course in UTS rules ahead of his opening match against Holger Rune, he also revealed he has been handed some alternative advice on anger management that would not be encouraged on the ATP Tour.
Displays of emotion are part of the drama at a UTS event, but Draper and the players taking part in London were advise that they need to be polite to the crowd.
That advice inspired Draper jovially suggest he cannot contemplate the kind of kung-fu kick of a fan famously executed by Eric Cantona during his time playing for Manchester United.
“I knew nothing about the UTS rules until the briefing we had and it was interesting,” said Draper.
“They were saying smash rackets as much as you want, do whatever on court and the only think you can’t do is abuse people in the crowd, which was interesting!
“So I won’t be doing an Eric Cantona into the crowd this weekend and I don’t think I will be smashing too many rackets because I haven’t brought too many with me.
“UTS seems like an amazing concept. It allows you to play freely and that for me, is what tennis about.”
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UTS creator Patrick Mouratoglou told Tennis365 about his fears for the future of the sport with an ageing audience and a lack of ideas of how to freshen up the long-standing historical events that are a key part of the calendar.
With its brash image, loud music during matches, on-court interviews of players and a message of freedom injected into the players playing UTS, this attempt to attract a younger audience has proved to be a success.
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There is also huge money at stake for the players taking part and Draper believes tennis could open its horizons to new ideas as it aims to build a fresh fan base.
“I think tennis needs a mix between keeping the tradition of the sport like keeping best-of-five-sets at Wimbledon and that has a place in the future,” he added.
“I do think it also needs to open itself up a little. For instance, the crowd should be able to move around and talk. They have that at the US Open and they have also tried to do a few new ideas at the Next Gen Finals.
“There are also a few rules that tennis could include that could help the spectators of the game. No warm-up on the first serve is tough for the players, but it is good for the game.
“It will be interesting to play in UTS. I’m looking forward to it.”
Draper plays his first UTS match on Friday night against Denmark’s Holger Rune, in a battle of the big-hitter young guns.
A small number of tickets are still available for the UTS Grand Final as Londoners get a chance to finish the tennis year with a bang this weekend.
