Jack Draper Blames Fatigue and Frustration After Destroying Racquet at Italian Open

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Vivek Devane | Last updated May 11, 2025 1:10 PM ET

Jack Draper continued his impressive clay-court campaign at the Italian Open with a hard-fought victory over Vit Kopriva.

However, the British star admitted the win didn’t come easy — neither physically or emotionally. After an intense match filled with visible frustration and even a racquet-smashing outburst, Draper opened up about the mental toll of an increasingly demanding season.

“Was a tough match, definitely,” Draper said post-match. “Against a guy who’s a bit unknown, but he’s won long matches here and he’s feeling good, I knew coming in it would be a challenge.”

Despite coming through in straight sets, Draper confessed that it has been a taxing season so far. “I felt a little bit low in energy. My feet weren’t working as well as I wanted them to,” he said.

“But I tried to fight hard and find a way. Obviously, the frustration boiled out a little bit too much in the end, but I stayed out there and came through low on energy.”

Frustrations rise for Jack Draper in the second set after missing multiple break points pic.twitter.com/3BhqjU7wUX
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) May 11, 2025

The 22-year-old, who has been climbing the ATP rankings steadily this season, pointed to both the mental and physical grind of competing week in and week out. When asked if his struggles were due to a long season or just one of those days, Draper was honest.

“Certain days — I’m human,” he said. “We don’t always wake up feeling great. Some days I get out of bed and I feel so angry, and I’ve got to play a tennis match, lose points and go through emotional downs while dealing with that.”

Draper, who has been a standout performer on the clay this spring, is still adjusting to the increased demands of life on the tour.

“I’m in a new position now,” he added. “My ranking’s going up, I’m competing week in, week out and getting to play lots of matches. That’s taking some getting used to for me.”

Though the match was emotionally testing, Draper managed to secure a straight sets victory 6-4, 6-3 and will face French showman Corentin Moutet next, who secured his first ever top 10 win in his victory against Holger Rune.

"The frustration boiled out a little bit too much" ♨️

Jack Draper on his racket smash pic.twitter.com/r00gxkU5N0
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) May 11, 2025