Jack Draper shows true colours as he speaks out about Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon

Daily Mirror

8 hours ago

Jack Draper saw his Wimbledon dream come to an end at the hands of Marin Cilic in the second round on Thursday, but he is hopeful that Emma Raducanu can keep British hopes alive
Jack Draper has backed Emma Raducanu to carry the British torch at Wimbledon following his own second-round exit. While he was initially tipped as Britain's best shot for a significant run, Draper faced defeat yet again in an early round.
World No. 83 Marin Cilic proved too strong for the fourth seed on Centre Court with a mighty display. Now attention turns to Raducanu, Cameron Norrie and Sonay Kartal, who remain in contention among the 23 Brits who began in the main draw.
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Speaking of British chances, Draper declared in his post-match presser following his defeat to the former US Open champion: "Of course [we] still have British hope. Emma is playing great. I watched her play yesterday. That was amazing."
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Raducanu has dazzled crowds at the prestigious club with solid victories over Mimi Xu and former champ Marketa Vondrousova, but now faces a formidable challenge, with world number one Aryna Sabalenka lying in wait, reports the Express.
Nevertheless, Draper remains optimistic about Raducanu's prospects against the Belarusian powerhouse, saying: "She has a real opportunity. I hope she goes on and does us all proud. She's definitely got the capability to do that."
The men's UK No. 1 also voiced his support for fellow Brits at Wimbledon, saying: "Cam, Sonay, these guys are going to be flying the flag now. I think they're incredible players, they all want it so badly.
"I know them all personally. They're all great people, great players. They deserve everything they're going to get. I'm looking forward to watching them play." The 22-year-old acknowledged the sting of his own recent loss might keep him from watching the matches up close.
"Maybe I'll try to stay away from it, in all honesty, because it hurts badly," Draper shared, expressing both his emotional struggle and hearty good wishes for his peers: "I want them to have amazing success. They deserve that for sure."
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Buzz around Draper surged when he trounced Sebastian Baez early on, only to see the Argentine bow out in the third set with an injury. Still, experienced star Cilic, 36, rolled back the years and pulled off a stunner against the British hopeful at Wimbledon on Thursday.
The Croatian legend delivered a volley of 16 aces among other formidable shots across the net, setting the stage for a third-round face-off with Jaume Munar at the iconic All England Club. Following his defeat, Draper admitted his frustration in how he's performed on grass this year as he sounded off: "I've been really disappointed with the way my game's been on the grass this year, in all honesty.
"I wasn't feeling too great at Queen's. I don't know how I made the semis there. This year I really struggled on the grass. I felt great on the hard, felt great on the clay, I felt like there weren't many holes in my game, whereas as soon as I came on to the grass, I felt a big difference.
"It highlighted a lot of weaknesses in my game, especially against a player the way he was playing today, someone as good as him on the grass. I think the hole in my forehand showed up, for sure.
"I wasn't able to deal with his pace of ball into my forehand. I was over-spinning a lot. I think a lot of my success this year with my forehand was when I have more time and I can create the speed and the spin that I want."