After spending some weeks on the ATP Challenger Tour, Jack Draper returns to the ATP Tour at the 2023 Japan Open, but it's going to be a tough event.
Draper dealt with a lot of injuries, which caused him to drop in the rankings severely. He had to build up his rankings through the Challenger Tour, and while he partially did that, he still had to play the qualifiers for the Japan Open due to the strong entry list.
He cruised through them easily but now faces a really tough opponent in the first round. He'll face Alex de Minaur in the opening round, and that's a really tough out, especially on hard courts.
They played once before, last year at Wimbledon, and de Minaur won that match, which is troublesome for Draper. He's excellent on grass, and while he's even better on hard courts, so is de Minaur.
The difficulty for the Brit will be trying to find a way to counter Demon's speed, which gives a lot of players trouble. He's a real matchup nightmare and will make Draper work extra for all points, and he's had some trouble with that in the past.
He's at his best if he can win rallies quickly, but he's not going to get many of those against de Minaur. Add to that the fact that he hasn't played all that well already will only make it harder.
He's had a good year but clearly lacks matches though a strong finish to the year seems possible. He just needs to finish the year with a couple of wins to build up his match fitness and avoid any injuries.
If he does that then next year could be a major breakout year for Draper because he belongs in the Top 20, at least with his talent.
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