I looked like a Ferrari but broke down easily – Draper

British star Jack Draper joked that despite “looking a bit like a Ferrari,” his body used to break down easily, but he now feels more prepared to go the distance in matches.

The 23-year-old won 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) to advance to the quarter-finals after coming back from a set down against Australian Alexei Popyrin at Queen’s on Wednesday.

As Wimbledon draws nearer, Draper is regarded as the greatest British hope in men’s tennis, ranked sixth in the world.

He said after his victory against Popyrin that he has been working on his strength and fitness to help him endure difficult matches despite never having advanced past the second round of his home Grand Slam.

Every Grand Slam I’ve competed, he said, “I’ve felt better and better.”

“Before, I felt like my energy wasn’t that great, and I felt like I looked like a bit of a Ferrari, but I also felt like a Toyota, and I felt like I was going to break down quite easily.”

I’m starting to feel more confident and self-assured right now.

Draper described the Australian Open as a turning point for him at the start of the year.

In order to prepare for a fourth-round meeting with world number two Carlos Alcaraz, he won three five-set matches in a row there.

However, Draper retired after trailing 7-5 6-1 after a pre-season that was slowed by a hip injury.

Despite that, he considers that his participation in those three previous games to be significant.

Draper said, “I have always worked really hard off the court.”

The focus is now firmly on Draper as a result of Andy Murray’s retirement from last year.

Although he has three career singles titles, he made the semi-finals of the US Open last year, which was his best major accomplishment.

Draper now wants to be at his best when Wimbledon begins later this month in order to maximize his chances of succeeding on home soil.

With a victory in Friday’s quarter-final against American Brandon Nakashima, he will also be seeded fourth at Wimbledon, which means he won’t have to face world champion Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner, who are both defending champions.

He said, “My goal is to reach Wimbledon.”

Every day, I’m going to give myself a chance to improve. In practice, I’ve been hitting the ball more and more consistently, but sometimes that doesn’t immediately make sense.