Sky Sports Tennis analysts Tim Henman and Laura Robson have urged Jack Draper not to be so hard on himself, after the 23-year-old cut a frustrated figure following his Italian Open quarter-final defeat.
British No 1 Draper suffered a straight-sets defeat to Carlos Alcaraz as his run at the Italian Open ended – the latter saving six of the eight break points he faced to advance to the last four in Rome.
Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis after his defeat, Draper said: “Carlos was better tactically and emotionally than me. I sit here very frustrated with my match today. I could have tactically changed a few things better and I think emotionally I was too negative.
The British No 1 cut a frustrated figure on court and post-match in Rome on Wednesday
“A lot of that is how much tennis I’ve played, but top players bring that out of you, and Carlos was the better player and deserved to win.
“I still think there’s some things where against a top clay-court player like today, certain things can get exposed. My return, for instance, you have to have a little bit more height on the clay. I don’t think I did a great job of that today.
“And especially in the matches I’ve lost so far, they’ve been able to find my backhand a little bit. I’ve got to keep working on being more physical and understanding how to be more effective in terms of getting it to their backhand. It’s a bit more of a chess game on clay and I’m still learning.”
Speaking in response to the interview, Robson said: “Listening to that, you almost feel like he’s too harsh coming off the back of that. Off an amazing few weeks he’s had and still thinking about point by point what he could have done differently.
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Highlights of the Italian Open quarter-final between Draper and Alcaraz in Rome
“At that point, I don’t think he would have had time to speak to James Trotman as coach. The fact he’s already thinking about exactly what went wrong, what he could do better. I mean, it’s a good thing in many ways, but you just wonder mentally, that’s got to take it out of you as well to be that tough on yourself day to day.
“Also, when he’s speaking about tactics like that, and obviously there was some frustration, but when you’re physically not fresh enough to be able to play the way you want to play, I think that’s sometimes is super frustrating.
“At times that felt like it was just creeping through in Jack’s game where he knows what he should do, but can your legs actually hold up to be able to do it? And after this much tennis, understandably, the energy levels weren’t there at times, but that’s normal. That’s okay, and he’ll learn from it and do better next time.”
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Draper’s frustrations get the better of him against Alcaraz in Rome
Henman concurred, adding Draper’s team needed to gather round him in order to offer some reassurance and context to the defeat.
“This is where it’s very important the team around him, led by James Trotman, are just able to take a step back and say, ‘let’s not forget you were playing the French Open champion, probably the most naturally gifted clay-court player in the game right now. You were up 4-2 in the first set, and you’re frustrated that you lost the match’.
“That’s where you have to be able to then reflect on the journey, the improvement he’s made, not only in the clay-court season, but this year as a whole.
“He’s a completely different animal [on clay now than last year], and that is what’s very, very exciting, because he is still learning. He’s so inexperienced on clay.
Henman added Draper’s team need to remind him he suffered defeat to the reigning French Open champion in Alcaraz
“We’ve seen that his game adapts so well to clay. It’s important that he recharges the battery so that he’s fresh going to Roland Garros.
“He’s learning to manage it in all areas of his life. We saw in New York the emotion, the anxiety with the vomiting, and he has made huge strides there.
“Dealing with the demands of the tour, the schedule when you are traveling and you’re playing day in, day out because you’re winning matches, you’ve got to make sure you’re not wasting physical and emotional energy so that you can perform against the very best players in the world. That’s what’s very exciting, but also important to reflect on, he’s only just starting.
“This time last year he was injured, his body was breaking down and there were big question marks. Now we’re talking about a player that’s in the top five of the world, has won a Masters 1000, and is going into Roland Garros not as the favourite, but one of the favourites. That’s exciting.”
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