Jack Draper is looking to bounce back in Asia as he targets a strong end to the season following the disappointment of Great Britain’s Davis Cup exit.
The 22-year-old arrived in Manchester on a high from his run to the US Open semi-finals and breakthrough into the top 20, but he was unable to guide his country to the quarter-finals, losing to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
Draper looked understandably a little mentally and physically jaded, but he will fly out to Tokyo on Tuesday to prepare for next week’s Japan Open followed by the Shanghai Masters in China, both of which are live on Sky Sports.
“To be in my position now where I’m No 20 in the world and all that progress I’ve made in all situations in my tennis, my mind, my body, the way I feel, I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done in the last year,” said Draper.
“But I’ve still got a very long way to go, a lot to improve and a lot to learn and work on.
“I want to get to the position where I’m consistently winning and playing at a high level week in, week out.
“I want to have a good Asia swing and a good indoor season. The work’s not done yet. This period for me, I’ve played a lot of tennis and I’ve travelled a lot, it’s about looking after my body, making sure I don’t break down.
“I want to keep my motivation strong so that I can finish the year hopefully in a really strong way and then obviously have a prolonged pre-season and work really hard on my body and improve ready for next year.”
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Following his run to the US Open semi-final, Martina Navratilova believes Draper can continue to go far in the Grand Slam events next year
One significant benefit for Draper of Britain not qualifying for the Davis Cup finals is that he will finish his season at the beginning rather than the end of November, giving him two months to take some time off and prepare for 2025.
Following his exploits in New York, he will now be regarded as a potential grand slam title challenger, with the expectations and profile to match.
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Following his US Open semi-final defeat to Sinner, Draper opened up about his anxiety, describing himself as ‘quite an anxious human being’
Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith said: “Because Andy [Murray’s] retired, there’s a focal point on Jack and rightly so.
“He’s young and he had two or three years where he didn’t play a huge amount of tennis. He’s showing amazing stuff, top 20 now, semis of a slam.
“His next stage is to keep going, keep working, keep being humble – he’s great that way, he’s a very, very good human being and he’s got extremely good people around him. It’s very exciting for him. I think Jack will handle it well. He wants it.”
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Tim Henman shows his support for Draper following a ruthless US Open semi-final match against Sinner
What else is coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in September?
- Korea Open – WTA 500 (September 16-22 – with Emma Raducanu in action)
- Thailand Open – WTA 250 (September 16-22)
- Chengdu Open – ATP 250 (September 17-24)
- Hangzhou Open – ATP 250 (September 18-24)
- Japan Open – ATP 500 (September 25-October 1)
- China Open – ATP 500 (September 26-October 2)
- China Open – WTA 1000 (September 25-October 6)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.