Jack Draper will be hoping to fly the flag for British tennis at Wimbledon this summer. After lifting his biggest career title in Indian Wells and cracking the top 10, fans are already eagerly anticipating his return to home soil during the grass-court season this summer.
However, former world No. 9 Andrea Petkovic has warned Draper that he will have “trouble” doing well at his home Grand Slam. The 23-year-old has never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon and Petkovic believes it could be one of Draper’s weaker tournaments.
Draper picked up the third title of his career and his first at Masters 1000 last month. The British No. 1 made a statement as he stormed through a brutal draw, beating Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune on his way to the trophy.
But the new world No. 7 struggled to carry his form into the Miami Open, losing his opening match to Jakub Mensik in two tiebreak sets. The defeat wasn’t worth stressing over – Mensik went on to clinch the title, upsetting Novak Djokovic in the final.
However, Petkovic believes that Draper’s latest loss is a sign that he will struggle at Wimbledon this summer.
The Brit has already proven himself on the grass – last year he won the title in Stuttgart and upset Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s – and is less experienced on clay. But the German tennis star claimed that Draper could do better on the dirt.
“I think actually, I don’t know how he moves on clay but if he can figure that out,” Petkovic said on the Rennae Stubbs tennis podcast.
“He has that heavy forehand but he gets rushed, that was the problem against Mensik in Miami. I think who is the happiest about Mensik making the final? Jack Draper.
“He was like, ‘Oh my God, I win Indian Wells but lose first round’. But he lost to Mensik who ended up making the final, so that was not a bad loss at all.”
Explaining how Mensik beat Draper, the seven-time title winner believes the same issues will translate on the fast courts at the All England Club.
She continued: “Mensik has one of the best backhands down the line, like all Czech players do for some reason, and he rushed Jack’s backhand in general.
“He rushed Jack a few times into the forehand because he has this heavy spin, he needs to get under the ball, and you could see him a few times. They played on Grandstand which was so fast.
“So that’s why I think he will have more trouble at Wimbledon than other places, but do I think he can win a Major title? Absolutely.”
For now, Draper will be laser-focused on the clay season, where he hopes to prove himself after suffering some tough losses on the surface last year.
He has been hard at work on the clay courts at the National Tennis Centre in London ahead of next week’s Monte-Carlo Masters.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk