"The reason why I was moved is that, among all the difficulties, you risk forgetting who you are on the court. And last week I felt I couldn't give more. I cried because I didn't recognize the player I was on the pitch, because of injuries and probably also because of how I've been feeling for a long time."
Jack Draper atraviesa un momento delicado en su carrera. Los frecuentes problemas físicos le han obligado a limitar el tiempo que pasa en pista. Después de regresar en Eastbourne, el británico volvió a detenerse antes de Wimbledon y tuvo que esperar hasta Montreal para reaparecer oficialmente en un torneo del circuito ATP. Sin embargo, su derrota ante Atmane en su debut puso fin de inmediato a su participación.
Draper necesita reaccionar
El tenista inglés afronta ahora el Cincinnati Open con la esperanza de ofrecer una versión mejorada. En declaraciones a The Guardian, el jugador de 24 años intentó explicar cómo se siente después de lo ocurrido en Canadá:
"Last week my emotion came from a situation where, I think, I had too many things to focus on and manage. Too many changes going on in my tennis. I got to number 4 in the world doing the same things, with constant work, and then I went through this whole process made up of many setbacks and many difficulties. All this drained my energy. I find myself in the position of having to start over. Sometimes, this reality is difficult to accept."
"When you hit rock bottom like that, you can always move back up. Since then I have trained a lot, I have received amazing support from the people around me. Now we have reached that stage of accepting the situation. After this long period, my pace of play has moved away from the best performances. I'm changing the strings. I wouldn't want to do it, but it's necessary due to the nature of my injury. The same goes for the racket," he explicó.
"It's a difficult situation because I'm a winner. I want to give my best, but I have to accept reality. I have to find a solution in these very difficult circumstances. If this allows me to get to the end of the year feeling in great shape again, with body and mind at the top, then it can only help me to completely overcome this injury," concluyó Draper.