Draper is a effective expertise with ambitions of reaching the world’s prime 10, however this defeat was one other instance of the work he nonetheless has to do.
The left-hander lately introduced South African former world quantity 9 Wayne Ferreira into his teaching workforce to assist obtain his aim, saying before he confronted De Jong that his recreation – notably his serve – is “in transition”.
Only touchdown 50% of his first serves, and profitable simply 51% of second-serve factors, had been indicative of that.
Double faults additionally got here at pricey moments, none extra so than the one at 30-40 within the seventh recreation of the decider which helped De Jong safe victory.
“My serve has been an issue this yr. I’m making an attempt to alter it to make it higher,” Draper mentioned.
“The confidence is not there for the time being on my serve, and it is an issue I’m going to need to work on. It’s actually letting me down.”
While Draper struggled, 23-year-old De Jong confirmed assurance after his three qualifying victories to succeed in the primary draw.
De Jong took a decent first set by breaking Draper within the twelfth recreation and received the ultimate 4 video games of the set.
None of Draper’s seven earlier defeats in a Grand Slam foremost draw had are available in straight units.
A effective forehand winner down the road arrived at a well timed juncture within the tie-break and Draper improved additional to maneuver a break up within the fourth. After an 80-minute rain delay, he took the match right into a decider.
Only as soon as had the Briton performed a five-set match – when he got here via to beat Marcos Giron in brutal circumstances at this yr’s Australian Open.
That felt like a landmark second in Draper’s profession, exhibiting he had constructed up the bodily and psychological resilience to beat adversity.
However, Draper was unable to win one other Grand Slam decider as De Jong arrange a second-round assembly with Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz.
“[Last year] I could not handle close to to 3 units, and now that is most likely I believe the longest match I’ve performed,” Draper mentioned.
“I did not cramp. I did not break down. The subject at the moment wasn’t physicality. It was my tennis. So I believe that is an actual optimistic.”
