In these times when specialists are scarce, Jack Draper is presented as an attractive and romantic alternative on grass, the territory of the intrepid. Born in Sutton (southwest of London), from a tennis family and with a spirited, suggestive and brave proposal, the Englishman interrupted Carlos Alcaraz’s magnificent sequence on the grass – 13 consecutive victories, just one away from what Rafael Nadal signed between 2008 and 2010—and defeated him in the round of 16 at Queen’s: 7-6(3) and 6-3, in 1h 39m. In this way, the Murcian failed to defend the title obtained a year ago and will lose hierarchy in the ranking —from second to third place, with Novak Djokovic as the beneficiary— before Wimbledon, where he will also try to defend the crown starting July 1. The appetite of the incisive British, now scheduled with Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals, prevailed.
When the draw suggested the theoretical route, Alcaraz and his team detected a potential point of conflict in the second station, where Draper could appear. The English player, a towering man with a magnificent complexion – 1.93 tall, left-handed and with long limbs, skilled in mobility – is still unknown in the eyes of the general public, but he draws the attention of specialists because he is drawing an interesting progression – 31st in the world at 22 years old – and, furthermore, he seems to have no qualms about taking up the historical baton of the Scot Andy Murray, the last British champion. He is hungry, has good build, a modern mold and, in the most immediate context, that of the grass, he moves like a fish in water. He had just won his first elite title in Stuttgart, very threatening, and accomplished it: Alcaraz, bitten by a shark.
“It was a regular game for me. At the tennis level I have not been up to par, and I have also seen my physical and mobility average,” said Alcaraz, whose legs were more static than usual; “But hey, we have to congratulate Jack because he played a pretty complete game. He has served very well and has not let me get into a good dynamic, and that has perhaps caused me a bit of frustration and not finding the right path on how to approach it.”
The Murcian resisted the rival’s aggressiveness during the first round, but in the crucial moments, when he had to take a step forward instead of temporizing, he stayed halfway and bowed. Courage and the step forward, so essential in that briefcase; fundamentals on grass. He lacked fire, a little more rebellion. So Draper, more determined, practically impeccable in execution, went all out, drew a practically insurmountable lead – 1-6, before sealing – and scored. “I didn’t miss a single one in training and now all of them!”, reproached himself from El Palmar, less vigorous than in Tuesday’s debut against Francisco Cerúndolo and in tow. The sharp setbacks of the Englishman and his solidity with the service, without letting up, from less to more, barely gave him an option. And the late and insufficient reaction in the tiebreaker was followed by another lethal bite.
Doors closed until then, Draper continued to sharpen the offensive phase and his greater determination was rewarded in the sixth game of overtime, when he nailed a backhand return winner, parallel, and achieved the break that tilted the terrain definitively in his favor. To the heat of the stands he added good inertia, and above all the courage necessary to abort Alcaraz’s final attempt. In each difficult situation, more poise, more punch — 24-20 in winners — and more serve from the British, opening towards the other side to gain ground and securely secure the point. Alcaraz had a 0-30 lead with that 4-2 disadvantage, he fought back at the end, but found a delicious response from the winner when faced with the only option: thrown away early, backhanded, as the canons dictate. And good bye.
“It means nothing for Wimbledon. In the end it’s just a tournament, and we can’t win every tournament we go to. I must accept defeats as they come, and try to improve. The positive thing is that now I have time to prepare well physically and tennis-wise,” she noted, while ruling out shooting next week in Hurlingham, like the previous two years. “I haven’t thought about what I’ll do yet, but I don’t think I’ll play any exhibitions. Now I prefer to be focused on training, on playing points and sets, and above all on being focused on physical preparation. I haven’t had specific training for grass, so I’m going to take advantage of it to get well and in shape,” he concluded.
COMPLAINT ABOUT THE NEW TIMER: “IT IS A WAY TO DROWN THE PLAYER”
A.C.
The ATP, which already implemented the stopwatch six years ago to limit the time spent by the tennis player in each turn of service, is experiencing a new regulatory twist these days in Queen’s and Halle (Germany). Specifically, it tries a novelty in which the clock starts running at the moment the point ends, and not when the referee finishes calling it. The regulatory maneuver seeks to speed up the matches, but apparently, it does not satisfy Alcaraz at all.
“They have put it up and they have not consulted anything. In the first round I didn’t notice what happened today, it was normal; I didn’t feel that time pressure all the time. But today was totally different, and that’s why I was twice as surprised. It seems totally wrong to me not to give the player time. Here [en hierba] There are not very long exchanges, but if there are or you end up in the net, you don’t even have time to ask for the balls; You have time to order two, but you can hardly even throw it away; you have to directly take out,” he protested.
“It is a way of suffocating the player, of not letting him do his routines or letting him breathe between points, which influences the show, because it does not allow us to give one hundred percent in each point. And I, personally, don’t like it at all,” she continued; “I’m not saying that I lost today because of it, but I have had to deal with it and something like this has never happened to me.”
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#Drapers #bites #neutralize #Alcaraz