There was never any reason to doubt Jack Draper’s clay-court ability. While British players aren’t known for their ability to perform on the dirt, Draper’s style was always going to translate nicely to clay. So it wasn’t too surprising to see him go all the way to the final in Madrid, where he probably should have won his match against Casper Ruud.
What’s really important, though, is that Draper looked a little tired in that third set, and he’s now in Rome after playing six matches during an emotional week in Spain. It’s hard to go deep at one event and then play well at the next, and that means Draper should be on Upset Watch early at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. That’s why I’m taking Luciano Darderi to win a set.
The last time we saw Draper make a 1000-level final was at Indian Wells, where he won his maiden Masters title. Draper followed that performance up with a straight-set loss to Jakub Mensik in Miami. Mensik went on to win that tournament, so that’s hardly a bad loss. But Draper didn’t exactly play well in that match, and Mensik was banged up early in the event. If Draper is anything less than 100 percent against Darderi, the Brit could be in for another early-round battle.