Jack Draper suffered a straight-set defeat in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, losing 6-3 7-5 to Martin Landaluce after leading 5-2 with a double break in the second set. The Brit had six set points to force a decider but dropped five games in a row, leaving him dejected and raising doubts about his US Open prospects.
Another crushing defeat
The loss came just nine days after Draper was in tears at the end of his three-set defeat to Terence Atmane in Montreal. Draper has since admitted he had no more to give in that match and struggled to recognise the player he once was. While there were no tears against Landaluce, the current world No. 143 has again been left feeling dejected after spending more than a year dealing with a bone bruising injury in his left arm.
Last summer, Draper reached his career-high ranking of No. 4, and a few months earlier he won his biggest title in Indian Wells, taking out Carlos Alcaraz en route. But the 24-year-old now seems to have lost the confidence that helped him claim statement wins and cause major upsets.
Fighting spirit suppressed
“From the start of the match, you’re battling it a lot and you’re trying to keep going with it and moving forwards throughout the match and trying to … pump stuff up and give you energy, but it just suppresses you down. It’s got to a point with me where it’s taken probably one of my biggest qualities, my fighting spirit,” Draper told the Guardian after his loss in Cincinnati.
Since ending his season after the US Open last August, Draper has played just eight tournaments this year. Previously, when he returned, he showed his talent: in Indian Wells, he beat Novak Djokovic on his way to the quarter-finals, and at the Eastbourne Open in June, he reached the semis.
US Open doubts
But his lack of match fitness aside, the three-time title winner no longer seems to have enough belief on court, and looked a shell of himself in Canada and Cincinnati. Draper needed wildcards to enter the two Masters 1000 events, given his ranking has fallen outside the top 140. He had also withdrawn from the ATP 500 in Washington a week before his comeback in Montreal. After failing to get any wins on the board during this North American hard-court swing, US Open organisers may not be as affording with a wildcard offer. In that case, Draper will prepare to go through qualifying.
Injury challenges
The nature of Draper’s bone bruising injury has made it difficult to find answers. He had already experimented with string changes and a new serve stance, and is again tweaking his equipment and serve. That has also taken a toll – he hit 12 double faults against Landaluce.
“It’s a tough injury because you have to start again with what you do. There’s a level of chronic pain that’s always with you. That starts to go away, but obviously the arm is linked to the elbow. It’s linked to bicep tendinitis, it’s linked to so many nerves around that area. So when you have an injury to that area, the whole arm is kind of lit up. It’s like someone taking blood pressure. And your arm’s just [struggling],” he added.
“When you’ve got that on your playing arm – this is my life, this is my career, you know? It’s tough enough as it is to play such an intense sport and the amount we have to give to it. And when you’ve got an injury that is tough to come past and tough to understand, there’s many challenges, there’s many obstacles.”
“For a normal person, they’d go and probably have six months off and it might recover and heal. Truth is, I’m playing tennis and so it’s not as simple as taking time off and it’s going to go because it doesn’t [work]. I’ve tried it.”
