‘Toyota' Draper fights back from set down to reach last eight at Queen's
PA Media/DPA
London
Jack Draper says he no longer looks like a Ferrari but breaks down like a Toyota after stepping up his Wimbledon preparations by reaching the quarter-finals at Queen's Club.
The British number one almost blew a gasket when he dropped the opening set to tricky Australian world number 21 Alexei Popyrin.
But despite feeling under the weather, he gathered himself to level the match and then went through the gears in a deciding set tie-break to win a gruelling contest 3-6 6-2 7-6 (5) in two hours and 13 minutes.
In years gone by such a test of endurance in the blazing heat of west London would have been too much for Draper, but now there is a lot more reliability under the chassis.
'I have always worked really hard off the court,' he said. 'I think that's helped me play more consistently on the tour. I have felt better and better every grand slam I have played.
'You know, before I felt like my energy wasn't that strong, and I felt like I looked like a bit of a Ferrari but I was a bit of a Toyota, like broke down quite easy.
'Now I'm starting to feel generally stronger and confident in myself.'
If Draper breaks new ground and reaches the last four in West London, he will be seeded fourth at Wimbledon, ensuring he would avoid defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner until the semi-finals.
'It's obviously a big thing. I think it would definitely help,' he added. 'But at the same time, I don't think I will think about that at all.
'Anything that I have sort of done in tennis, or achieved, I have never really thought about it. I've just kept on going.
'I focus on what's important to me, what I can control. I can't control if I go out there on Friday and play a great match.
'I'll give myself the best opportunity to hopefully do that. And of course if I'm in that position, you know, it helps going to Wimbledon.
'To be honest, I don't think I have been that great. I think I have competed really hard. I think my serve's been pretty good.
'But the tennis I know I can play and the tennis that's got me to the position I'm in, I think there is still a lot of improvement to come.
'My goal is to peak at Wimbledon, you know. I'm going to give myself a chance each day to get better.' There is to be no quarter-final battle of Britain at Queen's after Dan Evans bowed out.
The 35-year-old, who caused the shock of the first round by beating seventh seed Frances Tiafoe, was narrowly beaten 7-5 7-6 (4) by another US player, Brandon
Nakashima.
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