Jack Draper may have lost his Davis Cup match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo but he did not lose any of his candour afterwards, saying: “It’s going to be very hard for players of my age to achieve longevity.”
The world No 20, who played in the US Open semi-finals last week, played well against the Argentine who is ranked No 31 but seemed tired from his body language and movement, though he did not use that as excuse for the defeat.
It put Great Britain in a very precarious position to qualify for the Davis Cup finals in Malaga in November after Dan Evans also was beaten by his Argentine opponent Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Draper, 22, sounded almost exhausted as he described his season thus far after his 7-6, 7-5 defeat.
“It’s a mental calendar. Since Miami time I just haven’t had any time. We went straight into the clay, then straight on to the grass, straight to the Olympics, straight out to Montreal, Cincinnati, training week, US Open, here, then it’s Asia, then it’s indoor season.
“It’s my opinion that it’s going to be very hard for players of my age to achieve longevity any more.
“I look at the sort of schedule and I know players have done it for years, but the way the ATP have changed to two weeks with the Masters and these types of things, it’s giving us no time any more. There’s literally no break. It’s really mentally and physically challenging.
“It’s not that match, it’s the cumulative load over a long period of time. That match was extremely draining, then I had the flight home, dealing with the jet-lag.
“I got home, I tried to not nap during the day so I didn’t mess up my sleep and try to relax, take my mind off tennis.
“When we get a few days off, it’s important to not think too much about tennis, otherwise it becomes way too much. I had a couple of days with my family, enjoyed a bit of London which I never see any more, then got up here on the train and was with the team.
“With the US Open and coming here, I’ve been going for a long time. I’m proud of myself for being here with the team, playing for my country. I didn’t get it done today, but I’m going to have many more chances.”
Evans, who was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by Etcheverry, had spoken openly about Draper’s team not being too keen on him coming to Manchester. The British No 1 also replied to this question in a straightforward manner, reverting to the load on his body and his injury-riddled 2023 season while pledging his efforts to Britain.
Draper added: “It’s difficult. Rightly so, my team want what’s best for me, my body and mind. It’s such a tough schedule, it’s easy to get injured, to get burnt out mentally. They’re the closest people to me, they want me to be healthy, especially considering my history.
“I think it was probably people that wanted me to look after myself, have a rest, because they understand I’ve been away, I’ve been playing week after week after week for a long time. There is no rest. But at the end of the day, I know what it’s like to play for my country, to be a part of the team, how good the feeling is to represent GB and walk out in front of a home crowd. I felt like being British No 1 and in my position, it was the right decision for me to get myself up here and be part of the team.”
Evans was left disappointed, saying: “I didn’t play my best. A really long game at 2-1 in the first set probably changed the momentum of the match quite a bit.
“And then at the end I felt the momentum was turning but I just wasn’t as good as I expect.”
Britain were somewhat saved by a gutsy doubles performance by Evans and Neal Skupski beating Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Moltenti 6-3, 7-5 to make the result 2-1 to Argentina. That made Sunday’s fixture against 2022 champions Canada a must win.
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