“Wasn’t thinking about Alcaraz” – Draper reveals focusing on himself before US Open third round

Jack Draper, No 25 seed from Britain, downed Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Saturday in New York.

Draper hit an impressive 13 aces and converted five break points of the eight created on Van de Zandschulp’s serve to close the match in two hours, 17 minutes. He produced 33 winners and induced 38 unforced errors from the Dutchman’s racquet during the match.

Van de Zandschulp interestingly stepped on the court against the Brit on the back of a monumental win over world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, that remains the biggest upset of the tournament so far. This, however, didn’t have any impact on Draper’s approach to his task in Flushing Meadows.

He defeated Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round and, post match, focused only on his recovery process rather than worrying about his next opponent.

Draper was confident in his experience of facing big players, with fresh memories of win against Alcaraz in their most recent meeting at Queen’s Club Championships right before Wimbledon. Thus, he fancied his chances in the third round irrespective of the who the opposition was going to be.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Draper said in his presser after beating Van de Zandschulp.

“I’ve learned through playing lots of matches on the tour against really good players that I understand even though Carlos is a champion and an amazing player, I wasn’t thinking about playing him [Alcaraz]. I was just thinking about my recovery.”

Jack Draper

As per the world No 25, Van de Zandschulp, the former world No 22, has always been capable of troubling the opponent of any caliber.

“I watched that match obviously, and I know that on their day someone like a Botic is extremely dangerous. I wasn’t putting it past him to go out there and potentially have an upset against Carlos.”

This was Jack Draper’s first-ever matchup with Botic van de Zandschulp and he didn’t disappoint, earning a spot in the fourth round of the US Open for a second successive year.

Draper suggested that backing his win over Alcaraz was going to play on Van de Zandschulp’s mind, having grabbed a lot of eyeballs with his heroics. The Brit, therefore, believed in himself and came up with the goods.

“But I think it is sometimes difficult when people are saying, ‘Oh he should definitely win this match, he’s just beaten No 2 in the world who’s won multiple Grand Slams this year’. He obviously played a really good match and can definitely beat me too,” Draper said in the presser.

“At the same time, it was a good opportunity for me to go out there and play a solid match and know that also it’s not easy for him as well. Having just had probably the biggest win of his career on the biggest stage in the world and have to back it up again,” he added.

Jack Draper is now pitted against Czech Tomas Machac in the fourth round. Machac beat Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in his third-round effort.

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