- British no 1 Jack Draper takes place until the third round of the Italian Open
- Draper beat Luciano Darderi in two sets in Rome Friday evening
- He will now face the qualifier lives Kopriva, ranked 92nd in the world, Sunday
It was not only altitude at the time. Jack Draper has shown that his tennis muscular brand on the clay court could succeed at 13 meters above sea level as well as 646 m, beating Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Italian Open.
The balloon may not zip in the air here in Rome as it does in the heights of Madrid, where Draper reached the final last month, but when you can rub it as it does, it counts barely.
He tore the Italian in the first set and put it to the ground in the second and that is what makes to drape an opponent so dangerous: he can play in point-and-the-first tennis as well as anyone in the world, but takes him to the trenches and he is also ready to finish long rallies.
This last quality will be more necessary under the slower conditions of Rome than in Madrid; Balles returned against Dardardi who would have been high winners in height of the Spanish capital.
“The conditions seemed a little different,” said Draper, who plays the Czech qualifier on Sunday, lives Kopriva, the world n ° 92. “But I have confidence in the way I play, I do not see why I cannot continue to play a very good level on a clay ground. I learn all the time, play better on the surface.
Darderi, 23, is not to be outdone. It is the world number 46 and won the title on the clay of Marrakech in March; He is a good bloody tennis player but bloody good is not good enough against draper at the moment.
British No. 1 Jack Draper progressed to the third round of the Italian Open in Rome
He beat Italy Luciano Darderi (photo) 6-1, 6-4 inside the big stand of Foro Italico
Draper breathed his opponent with a powerful performance, winning 69 of the 118 points in total
While the winners poured out of his racket in the first frustration of set in the inhabitants, who threw their hands and hausses their shoulders as if to say: “What can you do against it?”
A superb rally of the third game of the second set increased the energy of the competition; Dardardi and the crowd began to feed on each other.
DRAPER faced points of breach in the third, seventh and ninth games, but he saved them all – six in total – then hit 4-5 to take the match.
The best players work in great moments and Draper masters this capacity. “I believe in these moments that I will not go to my shell, I continued to try to manifest myself, I continued to try to do the right things.
“This is what I see of the best players, they support each other, whether it is a point of rupture or not. These moments of pressure are what separates the great players from the good players.
“I always learn to be effective in these moments, but I really think that mentally and emotionally, I really take care of it much better.”
