Paris Olympics 2024: Jack Draper loses out to Taylor Fritz in scorching second round battle
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Jack Draper’s Olympic run in Paris has come to an end after the British No.1 suffered a second round defeat to world No.12 Taylor Fritz in the men’s singles draw.
Having made his Olympic debut on Sunday against Kei Nishikori, today’s battle against the seventh seed proved too tough a challenge for the British star who eventually lost out 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 13 minutes.
Draper made a strong and aggressive start to the second round battle, which saw him edge the world No.12 in the opening set tie-break. However, the blistering heat soon began to take its toll on the Brit, who failed to capitalise on his six break point opportunities at 2-1 in the second set, before gifting Fritz the crucial break with a double fault.
From there, the 26-year-old American went on break Draper twice in the decider to put an end to Britain’s hopes of crowning an Olympic tennis singles champion.
“It was tough conditions today there was no doubt about it” Draper said. “It was really hot out there today, we were both trying our best out there to produce our best tennis. I felt like at times there were ups and downs and each of us was struggling.
“It definitely felt very difficult, I’ve not played in many hot conditions. Your body starts to really fight against you, I definitely felt like he (Fritz) dealt with it better than me today. We haven’t had much exposure to heat, especially by being in the UK for a while, and being in Europe for the grass court swing, we haven’t experienced this level of heat and humidity."
Despite a disappointing second round exit, the 22-year-old remains hopeful that today’s encounter in the tough conditions will provide him with experience heading into the upcoming hard-court swing in the United States.
“You’ve got to play in it. This match is probably good for me today to hopefully be better in America – it’s kind of a shock to the system when you’re all of a sudden put into extreme heat.”
Team GB’s hopes of a tennis medal now rest in the hands of our doubles stars. Andy Murray and Dan Evans will bid to continue their run to Olympic glory when they face Belgian duo Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, while Katie Boulter and Heather Watson will open up their campaign against Gremany’s Laura Siegemund and Angelique Kerber.
Watson will later return for the mixed doubles where she and Joe Salisbury will take on Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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