Jack Draper hopes his physical problems are behind him as he prepares to make his French Open debut.
There is much excitement within British tennis and the wider game about the 21-year-old’s potential but so far in his professional career he has been off court as much as on it.
This year has been particularly frustrating, with illness disrupting his pre-season and then a niggling hip problem bothering him before an abdominal injury struck in Indian Wells in March after he had beaten British rivals Dan Evans and Andy Murray.
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He returned in Monte Carlo in April but aggravated it and was not able to compete again until this week in Lyon.
The good news is Draper, who is currently ranked 60, found his groove straight away, beating Alexandre Muller and Miomir Kecmanovic before losing in three sets to in-form Francisco Cerundolo.
Draper is particularly pleased to have found what he believes is a solution to the nagging hip problem, with an injection relieving the pain he was experiencing.
“I basically had a lot of scar tissue in my hip that wasn’t going away,” he said. “And we couldn’t figure out what it was but we went and really looked at it and I’m on the right path with that now. So that has allowed me to get back on court and feel really good.
“I’ve not had many opportunities to play loads of slams, to play the four sets, five sets and all that sort of thing. I’m still waiting to find that confidence in my body. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my tennis but I feel like I need more time.
“I haven’t played at all for so many weeks and stuff. I don’t know what’s going to happen this week. I have no idea. But all I know is that I’ve done all the right things the last six weeks.
“The main thing now is, whatever happens after this week, to make sure that I’m consistently playing through to Wimbledon, after Wimbledon to the end of the year, because that’s when coming to these tournaments starts to become very normal and very comfortable.”
Draper hired Croatian fitness coach Dejan Vojnovic late last year to try to build up his robustness, and the former sprinter has had his charge doing a lot of running.
“It’s just lots of interval training most days,” said Draper. “He thinks that I’m in a great place with my body. It’s just sorting out all these niggles that I’ve had.
“We’ve put in a lot of work so far but it’s only been three months, four months. The more consistent that is over months, years, that’s when I become more complete.”
Having drawn Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in grand slams previously, Draper would have been happy to avoid a seed this time, although Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry is enjoying a good season and will certainly not be a pushover.
Draper is one of only three British players in the singles main draws in what has traditionally been the country’s least successful slam, but he has no hesitations about playing on clay.
“I don’t know a lot about him,” he said of Etcheverry. “Obviously he is Argentinian and obviously he has grown up on the clay. I feel pretty good, though.
“I played some good matches last week. In Monte Carlo as well, I played an Argentinian who was really good, so, actually, for someone who never really played on a clay court and being British, I feel pretty good on clay weirdly. So I don’t know about his game really. But I know that I’m confident.”
Two British players celebrated doubles titles on the ATP Tour on Saturday, with Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram, who have struggled so far this season, lifting the trophy in Lyon and Jamie Murray and New Zealander Michael Venus claiming their third success of the season in Geneva.
Swiatek soars past Keys to seal Italian Open semi-final spot
Iga Swiatek soared through to the Italian Open semi-finals following a dominant straight-sets victory over Madison Keys.
The world number one took just 76 minutes to wrap up a commanding 6-1 6-3 win - matching the scoreline which saw her overcome the American in the Madrid Open last four a fortnight ago.
Swiatek broke her opponent four times and saved all 10 break points she faced on the way to setting up a semi-final showdown with either Coco Gauff or Qinwen Zheng.
Yet to drop a set this week, the Pole remains on course to complete a hat-trick of titles in Rome and land her fourth silverware of 2024, in which she now boasts a 36-4 record.
Data debrief
Reaching her 16th WTA 1000 semi-final from 30 main draws entered, Swiatek (53.3 per cent) surpasses Serena Williams (53.1 per cent, 26 from 49) for the highest rate of last-four appearances in such tournaments since the format's introduction in 2009.
The Pole also took her tally of WTA match wins on clay to 75 from 85, with only Monica Seles, Nancy Richey (both 80), Chris Evert (81) and Margaret Court (82) reaching that figure on surface in fewer matches during the Open Era.
Medvedev pushed all the way to avoid third-round scare in Italian Open
Daniil Medvedev had to dig deep to overcome Hamad Medjedovic at the Italian Open on Monday and stay in with a chance of retaining his title.
Medvedev came out on top with a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 7-5 victory, but was made to work hard to avoid a third-round upset.
After enduring an up-and-down opening two sets in which he hit 10 double faults, Medvedev rallied into a lead before holding off Medjedovic’s fight-back.
The second seed remained composed to break in the match’s final game to advance after two hours and 50 minutes.
Medvedev will now play Tommy Paul in the next round on Tuesday, with the American seeing off Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-3.
Data Debrief: Reigning champion fights on
Medvedev has reached the last 16 at all 5 Masters 1000 events this season, with only Alexander Zverev able to match that distinction.
It was not an easy ride for him though, as Medjedovic wanted to prove a point against his first Top 10 opponent in what was his first Masters 1000 third round.
Swiatek passes Kerber test to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Two-time Italian Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals of this year's tournament with an impressive 7-5 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber on Monday.
Three-time grand slam winner Kerber provided Swiatek with a real step up after routine victories over Bernarda Pera and Yulia Putintseva in the first two rounds on the clay in Rome.
Kerber responded to Swiatek's first break – which came in the eighth game – with one of her own, but the world number one then recaptured her composure to force a series of break points in Kerber's next two service games, finally converting at the eighth attempt to take the opener.
Kerber refused to go away, breaking straight back in the first game of the second set, but Swiatek upped her game to take the contest away from the 36-year-old.
Swiatek dropped just three further points on her own serve from there, adding three breaks of her own to set up a last-eight meeting with Madison Keys for Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Swiatek unmatched on clay
While Kerber rolled back the years to trouble Swiatek early on, she lacked the staying power to live with the world number one in longer rallies on a surface where she is truly unmatched.
Her win ratio at clay-court events at WTA 1000-level now stands at 88.2 per cent (30 wins, four defeats), the best of any player to have played a minimum of five matches since the format's 2009 introduction, ahead of Serena Williams at 88 per cent.
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