After this week at Queen’s, it would seem that Jack Draper is a player that the Great British public loves to bits already.
The 22-year-old might have been dumped out of the tournament by Tommy Paul yesterday but he’s enjoyed a remarkable week.
On Thursday, the newly crowned Great Britain number one beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to curb the Spaniard’s dominance.
Fatigue perhaps set in a little bit against Paul but it’s clear that Draper is going to be around for many years to come.
After the game, John Lloyd was quizzed on Draper and Claire Balding asked him about something that happened in the closing stages of the match.
John Lloyd shares view Jack Draper incident during Tommy Paul defeat
The flash point here came when Draper failed to break Paul’s serve three games from the end of the match in the deciding set.
He smashed the ball high over the stand at Queen’s and the ball was never to be seen again.
It was an act of petulance from the young player but Lloyd admitted afterwards that he doesn’t necessarily mind that.
He told BBC Two: “Are you talking about the ball that he’s hit three thousand miles up into the air, I thought that was great, he got rid of the frustration, he needed it.
“I don’t have a problem with that, as long as you direct it in the right place.
“Some players in the past have not directed in the right place and ended up getting defaulted from the tournament.”
Draper is going to star for years to come
Watch out Wimbledon, there is a new Great Britain star in town!
Draper isn’t here to mess around and he will now go into Wimbledon full of confidence next month.
Of course, things are different at SW19 as things become best of five sets and he will hope he can prepare properly for that.
Draper has never gone beyond round two at Wimbledon and it’s fair to say he looked well-equipped to do that this year.
He will go into the competition as the 29th seed right now and that should ensure a pretty decent draw for the player.
Draper looks to have all the tools and perhaps this incident serves to show that he’s a bit of a character too.
Some won’t agree with it but as Lloyd says, sometimes players just need to let off a bit of steam and he did it in the right way.
Draper is a passionate player and he will hope to continue getting the Great British public out of their seats in the coming years.
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