British Tennis on the Rise: Draper, Fearnley, and Norrie Shine at Madrid Open
The strength of British tennis has been hailed by Jack Draper after he joined fellow Britons Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie in the last 32 of the Madrid Open. According to a report by the BBC, Draper, the fifth seed, defeated world number 34 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 6-3 6-4, following victories for Fearnley and Norrie over seeded opponents.
Fearnley, ranked 68 in the world, achieved a notable scalp by beating Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, the 19th seed, 1-6 6-3 6-2. This marked the first time he had beaten a top-20 player, and he will now face former Grand Slam semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, the 15th seed. As the BBC notes, Fearnley’s victory was all the more impressive given that he had been struggling with an ankle injury, which he aggravated during the first set.
Meanwhile, Norrie, now the world number 91, continued his good form in Madrid with a 2-6 6-4 6-0 success over Jiri Lehecka, the 26th seed. He will now meet Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo. The BBC quotes Draper as saying that he is thrilled to see his fellow Britons performing well, saying: "Cam obviously had an injury last year so to see him coming back is great. And Jacob, someone my age, incredible player. The British public don’t really know much about him yet but he’s going to be, I think, one of the best players in the world."
Draper also praised the healthy competition between British players, saying: "Cam’s been up there too and he can do that as well, so I think it’s really exciting for British tennis and good healthy competition for us." The BBC reports that Draper bounced back from his disappointing defeat by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Monte Carlo to set up a meeting with former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini of Italy in round three.
The 23-year-old broke to lead 4-2 on his way to taking the first set in just over half an hour, and an early break put him in control of the second on his way to victory in an hour and 15 minutes. As the BBC notes, Draper is still relatively new to playing on clay courts, but he is gaining confidence and effectiveness on the surface. He said: "I’m still relatively new to the clay so I knew it was going to be a tough challenge. Everything was ticking over really nicely so I hope I can carry on gaining more and more confidence and getting more and more effective on this surface."
Fearnley, who has had a remarkable run in the tournament after coming through qualifying, said that he had been playing some of his "worst tennis" in the first set, but was helped by twisting his ankle, which led to him receiving painkillers and serving strongly in the final set. As quoted by the BBC, he said: "It actually helped, believe it or not. The doctor gave me some painkillers and I was serving that last set some of the best I’ve served in a long time. As of now I think my body is in a good position." With four matches under his belt, Fearnley added that he is becoming more comfortable in big tournaments, saying: "The more I play these big matches, these big tournaments and get used to these surroundings, the better I handle them and the better I play."
The BBC reports that the successes of Draper, Fearnley, and Norrie are a boost for British tennis, which is looking to build on its recent successes. With a strong contingent of players performing well on the world stage, British tennis fans have much to be optimistic about. As the BBC notes, the Madrid Open is an important tournament in the build-up to the French Open, and the performances of the British players will be closely watched in the coming weeks.
