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Jack Draper says he has far higher goals than becoming Britain’s No.1 and will take on his next challenges with renewed self-belief as he looks to continue his breakthrough title in Stuttgart with more great acts on home soil at the Queen’s Club this week.
“It’s a huge honor and a huge privilege, I know, but I hadn’t thought about it at all,” Draper said this week after becoming Britain’s No.1 for the first time.
“My goal is to be one of the best players in the world. This is what I wanted. I think winning the title last week kind of helps me believe more and more because it was tough and I was close a few times and didn’t make it over the line. I think it really changes my belief system a bit as well as what I can achieve.
Draper had little time to celebrate the achievement on Sunday as he rushed to catch his flight to London for the ATP 500 event at Queen’s Club, which began on Monday. Draper will face Argentina’s Mariano Navone on Tuesday.
Draper has been determined to evolve from a more defensive player into a formidable attacking player in recent months, but he has maintained a healthy outlook during the difficult transition period. Last month he lost in the first round of the French Open.
“I don’t want to lose the first round. this makes me angry. I was really, really upset after the French Open because, like I said, I knew I had put in so much hard work, I just wasn’t fully committed to what I knew I needed to do. So it was important to just relax and go out on the training pitch and really accept that things have to change.”
When the first round matches began on Monday, British No. 2 Cameron Norrie suffered a crushing loss against the excellent Milos Raonic. Norry performed well and held three match points in the final set tiebreak before losing 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-7 (9), while Raonic fired 47 aces, the most by a player in ATP Tour three-set match.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka has revealed she will not be competing at the Olympics this year to prioritize her health. Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, was eligible to apply to compete in Paris as a neutral athlete. She had a stomach bug this month her defeat in the quarterfinals against Mira Andreeva at the French Open.
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“I prefer to rest a bit to make sure physically and healthily that I am ready for the hard courts. Especially with all the struggles I’ve been dealing with in recent months, I feel like I need to take care of my health,” Sabalenka said.
World No. 10 Ons Jabert said Monday he will not compete at the Paris Games. The Tunisian expressed concerns about how her body would adapt to the tournament’s clay surface.
At the WTA 250 event in Birmingham, top seed and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko lost 6-3, 6-3 to Elisabetta Cocciareto of Italy. Fresh from defending her Nottingham Open title, Katie Boulter will play her first round match against Ukraine’s Angelina Kalinina on Tuesday.
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