Jack Draper played a match for Great Britain at the Davis Cup Finals, and he was glad about the experience even though he lost.
That match was supposed to give Team GB a chance to find themselves in the next round because Cameron Norrie didn't really have a high chance of beating Novak Djokovic.
Draper needed to win that match to give the country a chance to seek a win through the doubles. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't a very good match from the Brit, who was beaten by Miomir Kecmanovic, who is a player that Draper can certainly beat.
In a talk with the media after the match, Draper expressed gratitude about that experience, even though it was a painful loss. He dealt with multiple injuries this year, out of which the shoulder injury was the worst.
He missed a lot of time on the court and on the ATP Tour, dropped his ranking and had to work really hard to find himself back in the Top 100.
Since I got injured with my shoulder in May, I was kind of staring down the barrel a bit, hadn’t played all year. It seemed like my ranking was just dropping all the time. When I finally got back to playing, I was ranked 130. It was a real tough challenge to get back with the Challengers and mentally have to deal with that real drop.
All of these experiences will help him become a better player in the coming years, which is the goal. One day, the nation will depend on him for any Davis Cup success, and experience will matter a great deal.
For now, he wants to keep playing regularly and avoid any injuries. He's been somewhat prone to injuries so far in his career, so avoiding that would be a great start. If that happens, expect some great things from him in 2024.
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