It wasn't until 10pm on Wednesday night that Jack Draper finally returned to the locker room after his grueling victory over world No. 6 Taylor Fritz. Even then, there was no time to waste. He had just 19 hours to complete his daily treatment, recover, sleep, and prepare for another encounter with one of the top players in the world. That challenge ultimately proved too much as Draper's fatigue caught up with him against an unyielding opponent, and he was systematically worn down in the round of 16 at the Paris Masters by a brilliant Alex de Minaur, the ninth seed. Although Draper fought valiantly until the end, the Australian eventually emerged victorious with a score of 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday evening.

"Alex played an exceptionally good match and was moving incredibly well," Draper told The Guardian. "Obviously, I think mentally, I was struggling to keep pushing today. It's been a series of high-level matches over many days. That's just the nature of tennis, and something I need to keep improving on. The best players in the world can back it up day after day. And I just couldn't do that today."

This defeat brings Draper's seven-match winning streak to an end after he won the biggest title of his career on Sunday at the Vienna Open, an ATP 500 event. As he set his sights on Paris, Draper had to adjust to the fastest courts at Masters 1000 events this year, along with an extremely challenging draw that saw him face two top-10 opponents in his first three matches.

"It's crazy. I've played eight matches in 10 days, and they're not easy matches," said Draper. "They're against the top players in the world. It's physically demanding. I'm giving everything for every point, and then, obviously, changing surfaces, changing conditions, with no real rest. It's difficult to keep going and going and going. Also, knowing this is my last tournament of the year, it's difficult on court as well. But at the same time, I'm proud of my efforts and hopefully I can continue to work hard and improve."

After facing two serve-dominant offensive players, Jiri Lehecka and Fritz, in his opening matches, Draper actually enjoyed having more time on the ball early on. From the beginning, he served extremely well and dominated off the ground, hitting powerful forehands down the line throughout the set. Even when he failed to serve out the first set at 5-3, he quickly re-established control of the exchanges and closed out the set.

Over the past 18 months, however, De Minaur has solidified his place inside the top 10, largely due to his grit and spirit. He dug deep from early in the second set and gradually began to turn the match around. As De Minaur's serve improved significantly and he eliminated earlier unforced errors, he pulled Draper into longer, attritional rallies while also looking to take the ball early and impose himself when he could. Throughout the final two sets, the world No. 10 never allowed Draper to regain control of the baseline, exposing the Briton's fatigue by forcing him to work hard for every single point until the end.

"To really push [in Vienna], play great and do well was amazing," Draper said. "And then you've got to back up, you've got to go again. I fought hard yesterday, came through a tough one, and then today I think it was just a little too much for me to keep going. But I'm learning all the time, I'm still young. I'm still trying to overcome mental barriers, you know? And that's going to take time."

With this defeat, the 22-year-old's exceptional breakout season comes to an end. He finishes the year with his first two ATP titles in Stuttgart and Vienna, along with his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, his results propelling him into the top 15 for the first time in his career and marking him as one of the best players in the world. Most importantly, Draper has positioned himself perfectly to achieve even more in the coming years.

Source link:   https://www.theguardian.com