Jack Draper had a really good run at the 2024 US Open, but he felt quite drained afterwards. Still, he hopes to be ready for the Davis Cup this week in Manchester.
Team Great Britain are hosting their group in Manchester, and it promises to be a really exciting few days of tennis at AO Arena. Besides the British team, Group D will feature Canada, the Netherlands, and Finland as well.
It's a competitive mix of teams as there are at least a couple of good players from all of these nations, especially with Canada bringing both Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, who secured the first win of the group.
The British team features Billy Harris, Jack Draper, Daniel Evans, Neal Skupski, and Henry Patten, who won the Wimbledon Championships earlier this year. It's a nice mix of experience and youth, which Draper will bring.
He could be a player that the country leans on heavily in this group, but due to how his US Open went, there are some doubts about that. Draper's last match was only a few days ago, on September 6th, and he's expected to return to the courts on September 11th, which is when the British team play their first match in the Davis Cup Finals group stage.
According to a team official, he's supposed to join the team on Tuesday, September 10th. Team Captain Leon Smith will consider his fatigue when making selections.
"After a short turnaround following the US Open, Jack will be joining the team in Manchester on Tuesday ahead of the first match on Wednesday. Jack and his team are working hard to get fit and Leon [Smith] will take all this into account when he makes his team selection."
The way Draper's last match went will be heavily considered because the Brit looked very exhausted and threw up on the court as well. Luckily, it was not a physical issue that would bother him but just general nerves that overcame Draper in that match.
He spoke about it after the loss to Jannik Sinner, admitting that he is a bit more on the anxious side and sometimes doesn't feel the best on the court.
"I’m definitely someone who is quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together, sometimes I do feel a bit of nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough."
"I didn’t have any problems before the match, but it obviously just built up. Jannik plays at such a high level all the time. I had chances here and there and I didn’t take them. I obviously wasn’t feeling my best and struggled at certain periods of the match, but Jannik beat me fair and square."
The British team might not need Draper to qualify, but having him in Manchester as an option would be a huge advantage for Team Captain Leon Smith. Draper is very likely to play at least one match, but perhaps not in the first tie, which will be played one day after he arrives in Manchester.
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