- British No 1 Jack Draper is through to the third round of the Italian Open
- Draper defeated Luciano Darderi in straight sets in Rome on Friday evening
- He will now face qualifier Vit Kopriva, ranked 92nd in the world, on Sunday
It wasn’t just the altitude then. Jack Draper showed his muscular brand of clay court tennis can succeed at 13 metres above sea level as well as at 646m, beating Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Italian Open.
The ball may not zip through the air here in Rome as it does in the heights of Madrid, where Draper reached the final last month, but when you can whack it like he does that scarcely matters.
He ripped the Italian apart in the first set and ground him down in the second and that is what makes Draper such a dangerous opponent: he can play point-and-shoot tennis as well as anyone in the world, but take him into the trenches and he is ready to tough out long rallies, too.
That latter quality will be required more in the slower conditions of Rome than it was in Madrid; balls were coming back against Darderi that would have been clean winners in the heights of the Spanish capital.
‘Conditions felt a fair bit different,’ said Draper, who plays Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva, the world No 92, on Sunday. ‘But I have confidence in the way I’m playing, I don’t see why I can’t keep on playing really good level on any clay court. I’m learning all the time, playing better and better on the surface.’
The 23-year-old Darderi is no slouch. He is the world No 46 and won the title on the clay of Marrakech in March; he is a bloody good tennis player but bloody good is not good enough against Draper at the moment.
British No 1 Jack Draper has progressed to the third round of the Italian Open in Rome
He beat Italy’s Luciano Darderi (pictured) 6-1, 6-4 inside Foro Italico’s Grand Stand Arena
Draper blew his opponent away with a powerful performance, winning 69 of 118 points overall
As winners poured from his racket in the first set frustration set in among the locals, who were tossing up their hands and shrugging as if to say: ‘What can you do against that?’
A superb rally in the third game of the second set raised the energy of the contest; Darderi and the crowd began feeding off each other.
Draper faced break points in the third, seventh and ninth games but he saved them all – six in total – and then struck at 4-5 to take the match.
The top players step up in the big moments and Draper is mastering that ability. ‘I have belief in those moments that I’m not going to go into my shell, I kept on trying to come forwards, kept on trying to do the right things.
‘That’s what I see from top players, they back themselves every point, regardless of whether it’s a break point or not. Those pressure moments, that’s what separates great players from good players.
‘I’m still learning how to be effective in those moments but I definitely think mentally and emotionally I’m definitely dealing with that much better.’
