Jack Draper says he is feeling refreshed before Wimbledon after his bout of tonsillitis and is determined to make Centre Court his own as he prepares for his first championships at the All England Club as one of the top players in the world.
“I think the home support that I’m going to have and people right behind me is going to be amazing,” Draper said. “It’s going to be a privilege to play as the British No 1 and that’s what I’ve always wanted, I’ve wanted to make Centre Court of Wimbledon my environment, and I’m looking forward to hopefully starting that.”
Draper, who is seeded No 4 at Wimbledon, continued his preparations on Thursday by defeating Holger Rune, the world No 8, in the Giorgio Armani Classic at the Hurlingham Club, an exhibition tournament held in nearby Putney. Although he has played some of the best tennis of his life over the past few months, Draper’s preparation for Wimbledon has not been seamless. After being sidelined for a couple of days before last week’s ATP Tour event at Queen’s Club, he ended the tournament suffering from tonsillitis.
Still, Draper competed extremely well in west London to reach the semi-finals and, with such a short amount of time to acclimatise to the grass, his four matches there will be invaluable to his hopes of making a deep run at Wimbledon. The 23-year-old said he was feeling much better now.
“Just been on antibiotics, got over it,” said Draper. “I have been training. Had a couple of days off. Refreshed. I am not sure when I start – Monday or Tuesday – but by then I will be feeling great. I already feel so much better. Got my energy back, that’s for sure. Sometimes you don’t realise how bad you were at the time.”
Having started last year’s grass-court season as the world No 40, Draper has enjoyed a remarkable breakthrough year, reaching his first grand slam semi-final at the US Open last year and winning his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells in March. That success, however, also means dealing with the pressure of following in Andy Murray’s footsteps and being a genuine contender at his home grand slam.
“I’m normal, I’m like anyone,” he said. “If anyone asks you how you are going to deal with the pressure, you’re going to think: ‘I can’t control that.’ I focus on what I can control. I can’t control what people say, what noise people say, what hype there is, what criticism, all I can do is try my hardest and focus everyday on what I’m going to do to prepare and play my best tennis in order to try to win the matches.
“So I’m really excited to go out there to compete. Full of excitement knowing the crowd is right behind me, that I’m going to be playing on the courts that I wanted to play on since I was young, watching Murray, watching all these great players perform out there and it feels amazing to know that. It’s sinking in that I’m there now and so I’ve got the chance to show people what I can do and I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do.”
