Jack Draper overcomes Alexei Popyrin to battle into Queen’s quarter-finals
When Jack Draper played at Queen’s last year he was still something of an unfinished article. Then ranked 31st in the world, he was rapidly establishing himself as a name to watch, but the 22-year-old was a rough diamond of a player.
The bare bones of the game – huge serve, vicious forehand – were there; all the component parts to make it tick were not.
A year on from his last appearance at his home tournament – literally only a few miles away from his home in Putney – Draper is a different prospect. If not the finished article, then considerably closer to it. And still only 23.
He has been one of the most consistent players in the world this year, winning a maiden Masters in Indian Wells, getting close to a second on his hitherto-worst surface, on clay in Madrid. The Londoner has looked undaunted on the biggest stages and has reaped the rewards of his increased endurance and fitness, honed by successive five-set slogs at the Australian Open in January, and his ability to seemingly improve week-on-week.
Now the world No 6, a couple of spots down from his peak earlier this month at No 4, Draper is in a very different position to a year ago. His rise has been stratospheric; he has spoken measuredly about taking it in his stride.
“Since I was a young guy, I have always wanted to be at the top of the game, and I knew eventually that [expectation and pressure] would come with it,” he said after his first-round win. “I feel confident, happy. I feel this is exactly where I want to be, regardless of any external noise.”
But it was external noise that he would in fact rely on Wednesday: the combined cheers and roars of 7,700 people inside a packed Andy Murray Arena, who collectively got him over the line in a hard-fought three-set win over Alexei Popyrin.
The pair would trade blows for over two hours under the merciless heat (yes, really) of the London sun. Shouts of “come on Jack” punctuated the air from the moment Popyrin first prepared to serve, and it was Draper who settled quickest, lasering a backhand down the line to win the first rally, and earning an early break point chance. That came and went, as did another at 3-3. In many ways this was a match of missed chances and fine margins for both players. Such is the nature of grass-court tennis.
But at 3-3 those missed chances were to prove potentially ruinous as an inspired Popyrin, who returned brilliantly for nearly the whole contest, took advantage of a couple of loose strikes by the Brit to break. The crowd, totally absorbed, was stunned. Popyrin went on to take the set, albeit after two successive double faults on set point, as both players struggled with the weight of expectation.
It is evident Draper holds himself, and his game, to enormously high standards – as his various on-court outbursts and racket-smashings this year have made clear. With neither player budging on serve in the second set, he double-faulted at 2-2, roaring in frustration. The match hung on a knife edge.
But he regrouped, muttering to himself at the change of ends, and with renewed vigour attacked Popyrin’s serve. Draper is not always the most composed character on court and it was clearly the pep talk he needed. A break at the first time of asking altered the complexion of the match, and he ran away with the second set.
This was a match of small, barely perceptible shifts in momentum. With Popyrin serving at 4-5 in the decider, the crowd hushed, and Draper seized his chance, blasting a winner down the line to earn two match points. But a wild forehand erased one and the Australian served brilliantly to stave them off; once again it felt like the match could go either way.
A tie-break seemed inevitable. When Popyrin snatched an early mini-break the endless shouts of “come on Jack!” began to sound less encouraging and more imperative, the crowd not only willing the second seed on but wholly convinced he could do it. A bad miss at the net indicated the nerves were there; 7,700 people groaned in unison. But Draper broke back and, whipping a thunderous overhead smash into the open court, gestured to the crowd to roar their approval. They duly did.
Draper changed his racket at 5-5. Whether it was the new strings, or his self-belief, the moment proved decisive. A huge backhand down the line brought up match point; now on his serve, a venomous ace sealed it. At least this time, Draper took his chance when it mattered.
“There's days where I need that extra support, today was one of them,” he said afterwards. “It was a bit up and down but you guys helped me through that.”
It remains the case that a player who not long ago was the challenger, the young gun taking on the world’s best, now is one of the world’s best. He has reached the elite; now it is about entrenching himself there, finding those infinitesimally small margins that still separate him from the very best.
