FURIOUS Jack Draper crashed out of the French Open amid a flurry of foul language and double faults.
And following the longest match of his life – and worst Slam defeat in terms of ranking – the bamboozled Brit admits he will reconstruct his serve in the weeks before Wimbledon.
Jesper De Jong has just beaten Jack Draper 3-2
— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 26, 2024
And he finished the job with ???????????????? shot#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/jFY5esHzJI
The Sutton southpaw, 22, was eliminated 7-5 6-4 6-7 3-6 6-3 in four hours and six minutes by unknown Dutch debutant Jesper de Jong.
In his final service game, he double faulted – for the ninth time in total – and received a time violation for slow serving.
Angry with himself, Draper dropped THREE F bombs on Court 12 before being shocked by the world No.176 – the lowest-ranked opponent to eliminate him from one of the four majors.
Draper, who felt tight in his body in the early exchanges, said: “I’m obviously extremely disappointed right now. This loss hurts a lot.
“I’ve played a long match there. Felt physically great. I look at the positives on that side but my tennis, I know I’m so much better than how I played.
“We have to have a short-term memory in tennis and there will be more opportunities to come.”
In a contest marred by an hour-and-a-half rain delay, Draper did well to take it to a fifth set, the second time that has happened at Tour Level.
Draper is known for being a big, powerful server but he cannot fathom why he is missing the mark so consistently these days.
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And he has four weeks until the Championships begin in SW19 to discover the right formula.
By going out early, he missed out on a second-round date with reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spaniard, 21, thrashed American JJ Wolf 6-1 6-2 6-1 but is managing a right arm issue, which sees him wearing a sleeve.
The British No.2 said: “My serve has been a problem this year. I’m trying to change it to make it better. It’s not comfortable.
“You know, the confidence isn’t there at the moment on my serve.
“It’s a problem I’m going to have to work on with coaches and see where I can make it more consistent because it’s really letting me down.
“The serve was a real problem. It kind of felt like I was returning. I was playing without a serve. Obviously very frustrated with a lot of things.
“I just hope that I can learn from this loss and keep on progressing in the right direction.
“I’ve got to 35 in the world playing the way I have but I don’t want to be stuck between 20 and 50 all my career.
“I want to be a top player. Things have to change and that’s going to take time.
“I feel like I’m missing my serves by such a small distance every time and I can’t wrap my head around how that’s possible.”
