ROLAND GARROS

May 26, 2024

Jack Draper

Press Conference

J. DE JONG/J. Draper

7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Were you surprised by the way Jesper played and especially how he started, considering the fact that it's only his third main draw match at a slam?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, he obviously dealt with the occasion of, like you said, being his third main draw match, but he has had three matches on the courts, like he is qualified.

I think qualifying for a grand slam is a big achievement. Everyone in that qually draw is a good player, so I was expecting it to be really tough. I know him. I know a lot of people, they think it's only the top 100 players in the world that play at a very high level. They're wrong. Everyone plays great, and they can play great on the day as well.

Q. (Off microphone -- question about serve)

JACK DRAPER: My serve has been a problem this year. I'm trying to change it to make it better, and obviously I've made those changes in the last few weeks. So it's not comfortable, especially in a grand slam playing in a fifth set on a second serve.

You know, the confidence isn't there at the moment on my serve, and it's a problem I'm going to have to work on with coaches and see where I can make it more consistent because, yeah, it's really letting me down.

Q. Do you feel that you were maybe looking for relaxation on the court a bit, but you didn't find? It seemed like you weren't releasing that much.

JACK DRAPER: I don't know. Like I said the other day, I've been trying to do different things in practice, like I'm trying to change my game a little bit. So I feel especially on the match court at the moment like a lot of things are a bit, you know, different for me, especially in high-pressure situations and stuff.

I'm trying to view tennis in a different way, and I'm so not used to playing and doing certain things on the court, and I'm trying to do them, and that's uncomfortable for me.

Yeah, I think the first couple of sets I was a little bit tight and then ended up finding a bit of a level. Then obviously just important points let me down. And, yeah, I need to start being more relaxed, but I think I'm getting better at that, to be honest.

Q. Can you sum up your frustration battling so hard to take it to a fifth set there and especially when you served that double fault to that second break, how did you feel then? It sounded like you weren't too --

JACK DRAPER: Obviously very frustrated. Like you said, I battled my way back, started playing a decent level. There was a lot of ebbs and flows in the match. That's five-set tennis. I'm kind of learning that the more I play.

But, yeah, the serve was a real problem. It kind of felt like I was returning. I was playing without a serve. Obviously very frustrated with a lot of things.

Q. Jack, when you have disappointments like this, how long does it generally take you to be able to move on from them, and do you have a process that you go through to get to that point?

JACK DRAPER: No, it won't take me long. I'm obviously extremely disappointed right now. Like, this loss hurts a lot. I think I'm in a good place, you know, compared to last year having all my injuries and stuff.

I've played a long match there. Felt physically great. I look at the positives on that side, but my tennis... yeah, I know I'm so much better than how I played today, and that's what hurts.

That's the thing. We have to have a short-term memory in tennis, and there will be more opportunities to come. I just hope that I can learn from this loss and start -- you know, keep on progressing in the right direction.

Q. You spoke about being in transition and making these changes that you have to make. What sort of time frame -- how long is that process, and has Wayne sort of reassured you that it might take a while to get those things right?

JACK DRAPER: Of course, it is. When you are used to playing in a defensive way for all your life and sort of grinding and all of this sort of thing, it's really difficult to sort of see tennis in a different way.

Like I said, I've got I got to 35 in the world playing the way I have, but I don't want to be stuck between 20 and 50 all my career. You know, I want to be a top player.

Like I said, things have to change, and that's going to take time. I have no doubt. We spoke about it before. These tournaments, it's going to be very strange competing and playing. It will happen pretty quickly because I have the mindset of buying into it.

I really believe that I want to do things differently, and I want to play more aggressively, and I want to take it to the opponent a bit more. Even in the match today at certain times it was there, but it's not consistent, and it's very up and down at the moment. I don't know.

Q. Did you feel like the rain delay came at a bad time for you? It felt like you were building up quite a lot of momentum at that point at 4-1 and then the rain came.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, obviously I had gone from 3-Love down in the third to then being 4-1 up in the second -- in the fourth, and obviously the momentum at that point was completely with me, but then obviously I came out first game and I broke. That's just the way it is.

If it did help anyone, it probably helped him. It helped both of us from a physical point of view I suppose because we both had a bit of time. But, yeah, like I said, credit to Jesper. He came out, and he played well. His level was very high today.

Q. You mentioned these transitions. Would you rather make them on the practice court or the match court? To that end, do you think you might -- for example, to try and sort of get this game on the match court a bit more?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I've almost -- not expected, but I have to expect slight things at the moment to be difficult for me. I've got to be expecting not to play with loads and loads of confidence and loads and loads of reassurance in my tennis. I think that today showed.

Some bits were good, and then on big points there's a double fault coming, there's a missed return, there's a missed forehand middle of the court. Just certain things I'm thinking about a lot more when I'm playing.

I mean, look, I've been competing all the time. Obviously Wayne has come in the last few weeks. My plan was to play Stuttgart and then Queen's. Stuttgart is obviously the week of Surbiton. So I'm not going to stress a lot about it too much. I just have to keep on going.

THE MODERATOR: Surbiton is the second week of French.

JACK DRAPER: Isn't that the same week? I don't know. That's something I have to figure out.

Q. Physically how did you cope with the five sets because actually I was listening to the Roddick podcast, and he said, I look at him and I see myself when I was 22 and I was fighting my body. He said, Jack to me -- he said, He looks like he is still fighting his body to an extent.

JACK DRAPER: What do you mean like fighting the body?

Q. Like he was saying that he still struggled with a lot of matches, I guess. How did you feel with the five sets?

JACK DRAPER: No, I felt great. Honestly, I played four hours. I felt like I could have played a lot more. Obviously we did have a little rain delay, so that kind of gave us a bit of a break for a little bit.

Like I said, I'm still building all the time physically. I kind of started on this journey with my new fitness trainer, Steven Kotze, probably sort of August of last year. I would say since that moment I've come a long, long way.

I couldn't manage near to three sets, and now this is probably I think the longest match I've played. Obviously men's tennis, and I didn't cramp. I didn't break down. The issue today wasn't physicality. It was my tennis. So I think that's a real positive.

Q. Just with your serve, just how I guess unnatural does it feel still? How much are you thinking about it, I guess, when you step up to serve?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, a lot. I think the frustrating thing is I feel like I'm missing my serves by such a small distance every time, and I can't wrap my head around how that's possible.

But, yeah, it's like anything. You practice something enough, and it will become consistent. So, look, I've just got to trust in my game, trust in the fact that I'm a good player, and I've got to keep that in mind and work on all these things and approach, you know, my practices after this week with a good mindset and not get too bogged down.

Obviously I've been struggling with a few things recently, and that's okay. Everyone goes through this, especially early on in their career unless you're obviously an unbelievable player. Just have to keep on believing in what I'm capable of doing and go from there.