US OPEN

September 6, 2024

Jack Draper

Press Conference

J. SINNER/J. Draper

7-5, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Jack, if you would, your thoughts on the match.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was a decent level from both of us, especially the first two sets. Very physical. I think the first couple of sets were about 2 hours 15. It was tough having both of them not go my way.

I thought obviously Jannik plays at such a high level all the time. Had chances here and there and I didn't take them. Obviously when you play the best players in the world, you need to do that.

Yeah, I obviously wasn't feeling my best and struggled at certain periods of the match, especially towards the end. Jannik beat me fair and square. He was too strong for me today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Can you tell us if you came in feeling any stomach issues or was the nausea to do with the humidity?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, obviously it was extremely humid today. Hasn't been pretty much the whole week as of yet.

You know, I think it was obviously a very physical match. Obviously that's why Jannik is No. 1 player in the world, because when you play the top players, the intensity is different. You know, it's a step up.

I think obviously it's a big occasion for me. I definitely felt, even though I generally feel pretty relaxed and stuff, I definitely felt more excited today, a few more nerves around. I'm definitely someone who is, I think, quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes I do feel a bit nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.

Yeah, I didn't have any problems before the match, but it obviously just built up.

Q. Did you actually feel better when you threw up on the court? How close were you to retiring?

JACK DRAPER: No, you don't feel better. You just feel worse and worse, because you can't put anything in your body. You know, like, when you're playing long matches, you need to be able to drink and to eat things and, you know, to give your body the supplies it needs to keep on going.

But obviously when you're feeling sick and stuff like that, you can't put anything inside your body, because it just comes straight out, and it's the worst feeling ever. You can't move around the court when that happens.

So no, it's a horrible feeling, and you feel more dizzy and more sick the more you are, yeah.

Q. Thoughts of retiring?

JACK DRAPER: Oh, sorry. No, no, no, I'm not going to retire in the semis of a Grand Slam. I know the last set, you know, it probably looked liked from courtside or on TV that it was, you know, not a great look. But, you know, at the end of the day, I always try and give my best, you know.

The second set I was feeling not too great, and, you know, I still pushed it to a tiebreak. I was fighting hard. You know, I'm proud of myself. I tried to fight as hard as I can. Just not going to get it done against someone like that.

Q. When did you first start to feel unwell in the match?

JACK DRAPER: I think we had like a tough opening set, you know, 5-All. We had a really tight game. You know, sometimes in the match you feel, you're anxious, built up in certain moments. I definitely felt 5-All in the first set was a big game. Threw in a couple of double faults, I think it was deuce a few times. Then definitely when I came out for the first game in the second set he was trying to obviously get the break in the first game, and I managed to hold him off, but definitely was starting to not feel great in that moment.

So like I said, it was just, I tried to do my best to fight it for as long as possible, and I did a good job. I put myself in a winning position, and some of those moments in the second set, like, I definitely felt he was struggling, as well.

But obviously when you go two sets to love down, it's still such a long way to go and you're just constantly feeling worse and worse.

Q. You talked about the anxieties that you had. You're 22. It's your tenth slam. Do you think those anxieties will go with more experience? Do you think some of them will disappear? What do you do as a coping mechanism behind the scenes for those?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, definitely I'm getting, as a player, I'm getting more and more experience, you know. That's the one thing, you know, that's helping me this year and helping me to feel better in general is, you know, the more experiences you have of situations, the easier things become. You just take it all in your stride. Obviously Jannik's been in this situation a few times now, you know, so he can sort of relate to maybe the feelings.

You know, it's difficult, like, obviously I'm an athlete, I'm a tennis player, and there are so many athletes out there, we've all got things we're working through all the time. You know, tennis especially or just any sport is hugely mental and physical. You know, I try my best all the time to keep on evolving, to keep on learning, and it's definitely something I've had to just work through my whole entire life.

I think I've got quite a strong mentality and quite a sort of almost, you know, I use up a lot of mental energy a lot of the time because I want it so badly.

But obviously that doesn't necessarily help a lot of the times, especially in these five-set matches and that sort of anxiety and those feelings can build up. So it's definitely just something that, you know, is a real strength of mine but also a weakness, and I have to continue to work on it.

Q. Congrats on a great tournament. What are the main differences of playing someone, like a top player like Jannik in a best five-set match on that court? Were there things that you've almost never experienced before?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I think firstly Jannik obviously has had, even though he's so young, he's obviously been in these situations many, many times. You know, I think, to be fair, you know, before Australian Open this year, he kept on getting to the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and came unstuck.

It's all a process. You know, you have to go through the losses and the emotions of being there and not quite getting it done. You know, maybe it was too much for him at certain times. As players, we're constantly being put in situations that sometimes are new to us, so we have to learn how to deal with it. I think someone asked me what did people say? Well, you have to experience that yourself to understand it better, and to know how you react to that situation.

I think, yeah, I think Jannik's got huge experience already. And also, yeah, I mean, the reason why he's No. 1 in the world and, you know, he's barely losing matches is because he's so consistent. His intensity, his ball speed, he's barely got any weaknesses, and he's just able to be there point by point and raise his level when he needs to.

Mentally, physically, emotionally, everything's constantly improving, and he's rock solid in all areas. He's tough to beat.

Q. What do you feel that you most need to do, apart from just the experience and the passage of time, what do you feel that you need to do to maybe make that last step to get to that ultimate level?

JACK DRAPER: I think honestly, I don't think I need to do anything different. I think it's just a matter of time. You know, I think I'm constantly trying to improve. I've got great people around me, I'm doing all the right things.

You know, like I said yesterday, when I came here last year I was 120 in the world, barely played the whole season. You know, I think I'll be leaving here this week top 20. You know, having continued to achieve, you know, things that I'm breaking new barriers down the whole time of what I think is possible.

So, you know, I don't think anything's going to just, oh, I need to do this and that's going to help. I think it's more just keep on doing what I'm doing. Experience for someone like Jannik or Carlos or some of these young players, you know, they've been on the tour for about three or four years now, constantly playing, constantly learning, constantly taking wins and losses and experiencing losing in the quarters or semis of a Grand Slam. This is my first proper year, I'd say, because of all my injuries and all my setbacks, so I'm a few years behind almost.

So I think I just need to keep on learning, keep on growing, keep on having situations like today where I came unstuck and, you know, how am I going to do it different next time and all these types of things. That's the biggest thing I think it is, honestly, just a matter of time. It's experiences, doing all the right things, it's training consistently, and over time you just progress and you get stronger and you get better.

Hopefully I'll be in these situations more often and I'm able to come through them.

Q. Congratulations for the great tournament. Was it too easy the tournament you had until today? Because you had never to play a tiebreaker, never very long set, maybe once or twice. That could have helped you if you had done it? And you say he doesn't have almost any weakness. If you have to point out one weakness of Sinner, what would you say? Today he missed quite a few forehand.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, to answer the first question, I mean, just did what I had to do. I'm not going to take it to a tiebreaker. Don't need to take it to a tiebreaker or lose a set because I need to lose a set.

Obviously my run to the semis, I didn't feel like I was overly sort of pushed almost. You know, I was playing good tennis. I felt like my opponents, maybe first round, the guy was injured, and then Alex in the quarters maybe had a niggle. Not taking anything away from me, because after, you have to beat the guy in front of you at the end of the day.

No, I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question, but I suppose Sinner, what's one weakness? He doesn't have many, Mate. One. Don't know. Maybe he's too nice. (Laughter.)

His forehand is pretty good, as well. I'll tell you that for a fact (smiling).