Tennis My analysts Henman and Laura Robson have demanded that Jack Draper not be so difficult for himself, as the 23-year-old cut off a frustrated figure after his loss of his Italian quarter-finals.
British No. 1 Draper suffered a direct loss to Carlos Alcaraz as his run in Italian Open – the latter saving six of the eight resting points he faced to advance in the last four in Rome.
Talking to talk Tennis After his loss, Draper said: “Carlos was better tactically and emotionally than I.
“A lot of this is how much tennis I played, but the best players bring it out of you, and Carlos was the best player and deserved to win.
“I still think there are some things where against a top clay player like today, some things can be exposed. My return, for example, you have to have a little more height in clay. I don’t think I have done a great job of this today.
“And especially in the matches I have lost so far, they have been able to find a little back of my back. I have to continue to work to be more physical and understand how to be more effective in dealing with their back. It is a little more a chess game in clay and I am still learning.”
Speaking in response to the interview, Robson said, “Listening to him, you almost feel like he is very harsh out of it.
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Main points of the Italian quarterfinals open between Draper and Alcaraz in Rome
“At that moment, I don’t think he would have time to talk to James Trotman as a trainer. The fact that he is already thinking about exactly what went wrong, what he could do better. I mean, is a good thing in many ways, but you just ask mental mind, it should take it from you, as well as it harsh in the day.
“Also, when he is talking about such tactics, and there is definitely a disappointment, but when you are not physically fresh enough to be able to play the way you want to play, I think sometimes it is very disappointing.
“In the event that he felt like he was dragging on Jack’s game, where he knows what to do, but can your feet actually stand to be able to do it? And after this tennis very much, of course, the energy levels were never there, but that’s normal. He will learn from it and do better.”
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Draper frustrations take the best against him against Alcaraz in Rome
Henman agreed, adding the Draper team needed to collect it in order to provide some security and context for loss.
“This is where it is very important that the team around him, led by James Trotman, is simply able to take a step back and say,” let’s not forget that you are playing the French champion Open, perhaps the most talented player of the clay in the game now. You were 4-2 in the first set, and you are frustrated who lost the game. “
“This is where you need to be able to reflect on the journey, the improvement it has made, not only in the clay season, but this year as a whole.
“He is a completely different animal (in clay now than last year), and that is what is very, very exciting because he is still learning. He is so inexperienced in clay.
Henman added the Draper team to remind him that he suffered a loss to the French royal champion Open in Alcaraz
“We’ve seen his game fit so well into Clay. It’S’S important for him to replenish the battery in order to be fresh going to Roland Garros.
“He is learning to manage him in all areas of his life. We saw in New York emotion, anxiety with vomiting and he has made great steps there.
“Dealing with the demands of the tournament, the schedule when you are traveling and playing days, days outside because you are winning matches, you need to make sure you are not losing physical and emotional energy so that you can perform against much better players in the world. This is what is very exciting, but also important to reflect, it is only starting.
“This time last year he was injured, his body was breaking down and having big questions. Now we are talking about a player who is in the first five of the world, won a Masters 1000, and is going to Roland Garros not as a favorite but one of the favorites. That’s exciting.”
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