Jack Draper has spoken for the first time since being knocked out of Indian Wells last night.
He was defeated in straight sets by Daniil Medvedev, although the match was marred by a controversial moment deep in the second set.
With the scores tied at 5-5, and with the Briton serving, he threw out his arms briefly mid-point, expressing his confusion after he had felt the ball sailed long.
Instead, the point continued, and Medvedev was eventually gifted it in retrospect after Jack Draper was adjudged to have hindered his opponent.
Medvedev gave his thoughts on this controversy, and now Draper has too.
Jack Draper delivers first interview after losing at Indian Wells
Speaking with Sky Sports, in what was his first interview following this defeat, the 24-year-old began by expressing his satisfaction with his week’s work.
He admitted: “It was difficult. It showed in my tennis tonight. I did not recover well enough physically or emotionally to be able to give it my all and play the way I wanted to against Daniil.
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“He is obviously a top player and back-to-back matches was something I have not done in a very long time, so I am proud of the way that I did this week but at the same time I have got a long way to go in my progress to get to where I want to be.”
Then asked about the replay incident, Draper gave a measured response as he stated: “I have not seen anything on it. Do I think it’s the reason why I lost the match? Absolutely not.
“I think Daniil was by far the stronger player. I do feel a bit hard done by, because I did not think that it distracted him enough to lose the point.
“It’s a difficult situation because obviously I did make a movement with my hand and the umpire had to make a call on it, but a little hard done by that I lost the point.
“I think I can also see it from a subjective point of view.”
Jack Draper’s remarkable return after injury
As Draper said himself earlier this week, his battle to get through his injury struggles has been ‘hell’.
If this tournament is anything to go by, he is way past it now.
Despite his limited time playing matches of late, he returned to Indian Wells, just his second tournament since returning, and soared into the quarterfinals, beating his idol Novak Djokovic along the way.
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Of course, failing to defend the title will sting, but this tournament arguably could not have gone better for Draper, even if he has slipped to the British number two.
Should he remain fit and maintain this kind of form, he will be back in the top ten in no time.
