Jack Draper has made a strong statement following his early exit from the Miami Open.
Draper has struggled with an arm injury over the past year, having been out of action for six months until last month.
Despite having such a lengthy time away from the sport, Draper was able to beat Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells last week.
Draper was unable to continue this momentum in Miami, where he lost his only match to the big-serving Reilly Opelka, and after his defeat he called for Grand Slam tournaments to make a change.
Jack Draper calls for more cohesion between Grand Slams and the tours
Last year, many of the top 20 players on both the ATP and WTA Tours sent a letter to the Grand Slam tournaments, particularly calling for a greater percentage of the prize money in terms of the general revenue the majors make.
Draper was asked about this in his post-match press conference after losing to Opelka, in terms of how much involvement he has had in this issue.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s an interesting one,” said Draper. “I do think it’s lesser about the prize money. It’s more about it being equal.
“You know, I think the ATP have done a really good job actually with a lot of things — player welfare, pension, all these things — and I think the Grand Slams can definitely contribute a little bit more to some important sides of tennis which aren’t often seen on the core player welfare, like I said, that sort of stuff.”
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Later on in the press conference, Draper continued to address the misconception that the complaints are only regarding prize money.
Draper went on to claim that the ‘most important’ issue in tennis right now for him is the lack of collaboration between the Grand Slams, ATP Tour and the ITF Tour, stating that it is ‘very apparent’ that they are working individually.
“Yeah, I think obviously it’s very different, two different sides of things, right?” questioned Draper. “The Grand Slam letters were different than on the ATP side, but like I said in my previous answer, it’s about what’s doing right for the players.
“You know, I think people, when they see online or something, oh, the players wanting more money and all this sort of stuff. It’s not really that. It’s about the Grand Slams collectively contributing more to different areas that the players need.
“Also, yeah, I mean, there is many, many things that could change in tennis. I think the most important thing for me is the Grand Slams, the ATP, the ITF, they all work together collectively, because I think in the last year since I have been on tour, it’s been very apparent that they all work individually, and that’s not what’s best for the players at all.
“So I hope that they can come together and sort out some of the stuff and work together to make the sport better and make it the sport that we love and want to be the best sport in the world.”
Jack Draper explains how he looks after his body differently now
As well as issues in tennis right now, Draper was also asked about his body, given the injury woes he has recently faced.
The arm injury was not the only injury that Draper has dealt with in his career, and he admitted that he may need to start doing things differently with his new physical stature.
“Yeah, I mean, I think more so when I was, a couple years ago I struggled a lot physically on the court with cramp and all these things, and I had to work very hard physically to get to a better spot,” answered Draper. “I had a real transformation with my body and my mindset.
“Since 2023, I did amazingly well. I guess I always worked incredibly hard, but it gets to the point where I’m kind of in, I guess, more my man’s frame now in terms of my maturity of my body, so maybe I need different things. Athletes need different things at different stages of their development.
“So I don’t mean that I’ll be doing less. I just mean that maybe I’ll work a little bit smarter and a little bit more in areas that I need to.
“I definitely feel like when you get injured, it’s tough to work on those areas, because, you know, you’re just coming back from the injury and you need to focus all your energy into getting all that sorted. Definitely going to be ramping up my intensity and what I can do, because now my body is feeling better.”
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Draper will now switch his attention to the clay court season, where he is defending over two thirds of his current ranking point total.
The Briton will begin his clay court season at the Monte Carlo Masters, before Draper makes his Barcelona Open debut.
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