Jack Draper admits there is room for improvement in his game as he outlines his next goal on the grass.
The world No.6 is currently playing at the HSBC Championships where he survived a scare against Australia’s Alexi Popyrin on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals. Draper is only the fourth British player to reach the last eight at The Queen’s Club three years in a row in the Open Era. The others to do so are Tim Henman (7), Andy Murray (6) and Greg Rusedski (3).
As a result of his latest win, the 23-year-old now has the chance to secure a top-four seeding for Wimbledon. To do so, he must win his next match against Bandon Nakashima to move into the semi-finals. Should Draper achieve this, he would become the first player from his country to do so since 2017 when Murray was the top seed.
“My goal is to peak at Wimbledon,” BBC Sport quoted Draper as saying.
“I’m going to give myself a chance each day to get better. I’ve been hitting the ball better and better in practice each time, but sometimes that doesn’t necessarily adjust to the match court straight away.
“The tennis I know I can play and the tennis that’s got me to the position I’m in, I think there is still a lot of improvement to come.”
So far in his career, Draper has only played in the main draw at Wimbledon three times, reaching the second round in his last two appearances. It is the only Grand Slam where he has yet to win back-to-back matches.
Despite the record, there is plenty of hope for a rapidly improving Draper, who won his first Masters 1000 title in March at the BNP Paribas Open and was the finalist at another in Madrid. He also reached the final of an ATP 500 event in Doha earlier in the season.
“I have felt better and better every Grand Slam I have played,” he said.
“Before I felt like my energy wasn’t that strong, and I felt like I looked like a bit of a Ferrari but I was a bit of a Toyota, like broke down quite easily.
“Now I’m starting to feel generally stronger and confident in myself.”
Draper’s quarter-final match against Nakashima is scheduled to take place on Friday.
