Young British talent Jack Draper reached his second tour-level quarter-final of his career and capped it off with an unwelcome present from a seagull at Eastbourne.
Draper’s 7-5, 7-6 win over world No 15 Diego Schwartzman was the second-best of his career based on ranking, and saw him reach the last-eight in what was another busy day for the Britons at Eastbourne. But upon celebrating the victory, during a post-match interview by the court, some bird droppings splattered onto his wrist. “I’ve just been pooed on by a bird,” he said, laughing. “Is that good luck?”
It is no wonder Draper, 20, could see the positives. Ranked just outside the top 100, he has been notching up some decent results on the grass, punching well above his weight. Draper reached the last-16 at Queen’s, after beating Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz, and his latest upset over Schwartzman was impressive too.
After suffering from a few nerves while serving for the match, Draper recovered to play a clinical tiebreak to clinch the victory. He said his recent progress is partly due to muting the fiery side of his character, which was prone to over-boiling during his junior career.
“When I was a junior and just starting in the pros I was very up and down with my emotions,” he said. “I’d be on a bit of a rollercoaster and therefore it’s tougher to stay in the moment. As you go up the levels playing against someone like Diego, these top players, they don’t give you those second chances. So it’s got to be up to me to make the difference.
“I want to be a top player in the world so I know I’m going to have to deal with all these emotions and pressures. But I feel like the only pressure I can put on myself is in my own head. So as long as I keep doing the right things and improving then that’s all I can do.”
There was also a double victory for compatriot Harriet Dart, who made it two wins in one day to reach the last-eight. Dart’s second-round match against Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann was suspended on Tuesday due to poor light, and so she was forced to see out the decider on Wednesday morning, before then jumping back on the court to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the next round.
It turned into quite the battle, but Dart saw it out 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. It was another impressive win for Dart, who is ranked 103rd in the world and also reached the quarter-finals at the Nottingham Open earlier this month. She will play former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova next, who ousted Briton Katie Boulter.
It was a mixed day of results for the home talent otherwise. Jodie Burrage finally bowed out of Eastbourne after a valiant run to the last-16 which saw her beat world No 3 Paula Badosa. She was well-beaten by the most in-form grass player of the moment, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, who is on a 12-match winning streak. Dan Evans lost to American Maxime Cressey in straight sets, who will face British No 1 Cam Norrie in the last-eight.
Norrie received a bye to the last-16, so finally scored his first win on grass this year with a dominant display against American Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday. Ryan Peniston’s match was suspended due to poor light in the deciding set against Pedro Martinez.
This past week in Eastbourne has been one of the most successful for the Britons in recent memory as seven players reached the last-16 across the men’s and women’s singles. Considering the two biggest stars of British tennis, Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu, had to skip competitive play this week due to respective abdominal injuries, the rest of the pack have risen to the challenge and it bodes well for their chances on the grass at Wimbledon next week.
The British success in Eastbourne has only been upstaged by 23-time major champion Serena Williams making her long-awaited comeback to competitive tennis. She secured her second win of the week on Wednesday to reach the doubles semi-finals at Devonshire Park with partner Ons Jabeur.
She and Jabeur looked much more in sync than they had in the first round, and it was a drama-free, straightforward 6-2, 6-4 victory over doubles specialists Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching. They face Magda Linette and Aleksandra Krunic next.
