Jack Draper is on a collision course with grass court greatness says Wimbledon analyst

Jack Draper won a five-set thriller Tuesday evening on Centre Court at Wimbledon that could quite easily act as a springboard for a deep run at The Championships this year.

With the help of Craig O’Shannessy of Brain Game Tennis, Tennishead analyses Wimbledon 2024 with a unique understanding of how statistics effect tennis performance.

Draper defeated Elias Ymer 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours and 17 minutes.

Draper said post-match that his lead-in form to SW19 gives him a lot of confidence that he will do well here this year.

“I felt like my preparation has been great,” Draper said post-match. He won the Stuttgart ATP250 grass event last month and reached the quarter-finals at The Cinch Championships in London before losing to eventual champion Tommy Paul.

“It was a really tough match (against Ymer). He was fired up. I was trying to find my level, trying to find how I could try and understand his game and stuff. I think I did a good job in the end to come through.”

Here are the five things that leap off the match stats sheet, that identify what Draper did well in advancing to the second round.

1: Net Points Won

Draper swarmed the net at every opportunity, which was a key component of his victory.

Net Points Won

• Draper = 29/45
• Ymer = 11/15

Draper went to the net three times more than Ymer (45 to 15) and won a very respectable 64% of points at the front of the court. That’s an excellent lesson for all amateur players trying to level up their game. In general, you win two out of every three points when you go to the net. It worked for Draper on Centre Court and will work for you at your local club, too.

2: 0-4 Rally Length

The average rally length for the match was 3.8 shots. Draper completely dominated the short rally length of 0-4 shots.

Rally Length Points Won

• 0-4 Shots: Draper 107 / Ymer 90
• 5-8 Shots: Draper 30 / Ymer 25
• 9+ Shots: Draper 15 / Ymer 16

Draper won a commanding 17 more points (107-90) than Ymer when the rally length was in 0-4 shots, meaning both players hit the ball into the court a maximum of just two times. Short rallies dominate grass court tennis, and Draper knew where to concentrate his efforts.

3: Second Serve Points Won

The tournament average for seconds serve points won in the opening round is 52% (2684/5197). Draper won exactly that to secure victory.
Second Serve Points Won

• Draper = 52% (27/52)
• Ymer = 46% (30/65)

Ymer’s second serve was subpar, only winning 46% of the points. Small margins in important battlegrounds help decide victory and defeat.

4: Break Points

Draper saved 6/11 of break points when serving, while Ymer saved only 10/17. Draper’s ability to make first serves in these critical moments was vital. Draper made 8/11 first serves on break points, which helped to keep points short and not give his opponent an early edge in the rally. Ymer only made 9/17 first serves on break point, and very importantly, served three double faults on break point to gift Draper the game.

5: Holding Serve From 0-15

Getting into an early hole in your service game inevitably happens. Draper did much better than Ymer at holding serve from 0-15 throughout the match.

Holding From 0-15

• Draper = Held 4/5 service games
• Ymer = Held 5/11 service games

Draper won the opening point when returning 11 times to just five for Ymer. Draper only dropped one service game from 0-15, while Ymer dropped six. Draper did well in getting ahead in the game and finishing it.

Draper now plays fellow Brit Cameron Norrie in the second round. It’s a fascinating match-up between two lefties that will command great interest in the United Kingdom.

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Craig O’Shannessy is the creator of Brain Game Tennis. For 20 years he’s been involved in tennis as a coach to players like Kevin Anderson and even Dustin Brown when he famously beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon. More recently Craig’s been working as a match analyst at Wimbledon and for the ATP Tour. He has also used the unique insights from his match analysis software dartfish to guide players such as Novak Djokovic with analysis of opponents and performances.

Visit BrainGameTennis.com to read the latest and best selling course ‘Getting Tight’ where Craig teams up with Jeff Greenwald to combine their specific skill sets to help you with the universal problem all players struggle with in matches.

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