An amusing question at the beginning of this new, hopeful chapter in Jack Draper’s career was tendered to the 24-year-old without hesitation before his return to competition in Eastbourne this week. In the heat of a dispiriting, stressful battle on court, when things are going badly and he might need to discharge some of his tension, would he ever allow himself to scream at Andy Murray?
The prospect of hollering expletives at his idol, friend and new coach drew laughter from Draper. Then he shook his head: “I don’t think so,” Draper said. “Maybe a few times I’ve said something to my team but it’s mainly anger at myself. I’ve never been someone who goes off at my team, because I have a great relationship with all of them. I have too much respect for Andy and Trots [James Trotman, his other coach] to be doing that.”
Thankfully, in his first match after a two month absence, his temperament was never seriously tested. Despite a hiccup while serving out the match and a tense climax to the second set, Draper returned to competition with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Marcos Giron, his first win since defeating Novak Djokovic more than three months ago at Indian Wells.
Draper has not competed in over two months since knee tendonitis forced him to retire from at the Barcelona Open early in the clay court season, an injury that had come so soon after a seven-month layoff due to bone bruise in his arm. Exactly a year after reaching a career high of No 4, he started the week at No 160 in the live rankings.
He has returned surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar faces in his team. Since Murray’s family remains his priority, and he is unwilling to commit to the frantic travel and long periods away from home that come with being a full-time coach, Draper is also working with the LTA’s roster of coaches. His player box, which sits at court level on Eastbourne’s Centre Court and practically on the grass, had both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
Trotman, Draper’s former coach who has moved on to becoming a general LTA coach for the men’s programme, sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Murray and the pair discussed their player’s performance throughout.
Murray was vocal from the box, applauding frequently and offering a stream of positive reinforcement. When Draper was a little tentative with his forehand, Murray and Trotman encouraged Draper to swing through the ball. “Andy is a huge inspiration for me,” said Draper. “It’s comforting to have him there. I don’t feel any kind of added nerves or anything. If anything, it’s a real boost. It’s a real confidence feeling to have him there and also obviously having Trots beside him as well. Those two have got an amazing relationship as well. It just feels very natural to me.”
This was an encouraging performance overall. Draper’s serve has been one of the biggest focuses of his attention as he has tried to find his way out of his cycle of injuries. His attempts to lessen the load of his arm led him to switch to a platform stance with both his legs apart on the serve, which allows players to engage their legs more. However, the extra load on his legs did not help his knee, and so Draper has since reverted to his old pinpoint stance, with his back leg sliding up to meet his front leg during the motion.
He served well for much of the match and faced no trouble in his service games until 6-4, 5-3. While he was less pleased with his returning, Draper struck the ball cleanly off both wings, overpowering Giron from the baseline. His movement gradually improved after looking tentative out of the corners early on.
Most importantly, he left the court without any new pain. Draper described his body as feeling “good” and “stable” after 85 minutes on court. “I think there was a long period of time where, whether it be the last competitions I played, the US Open, or earlier on in the year where I’m not at full power, using a different [gut] string, which is much softer for my arm. I feel like I’m back at full power and using the setup that I’m used to. So I think I’ve come on massively and I’ve gained a lot of confidence in where I’m at right now.”
He must now try to build momentum as he attempts to finally fulfil his significant potential.
