{"id":70613,"date":"2025-05-03T07:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T07:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/70613\/"},"modified":"2025-05-03T07:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T07:55:09","slug":"jack-draper-says-he-is-suffering-with-exactly-the-same-problem-as-ben-shelton-on-the-atp-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/70613\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Draper says he is suffering with exactly the same problem as Ben Shelton on the ATP Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jack Draper is one of the in-form players on the ATP Tour<\/strong> and he is showing no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

The British number one has won 11 of his last 13 matches and he has just made a deep run at the Madrid Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His firepower and athleticism makes him a very dangerous opponent, and Jack Draper\u2019s<\/a> improved fitness has helped him tremendously.<\/p>\n

The British number one is hungry for more success but the journey towards the top game certainly comes with its challenges.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Draper is part of the small group of players on the ATP Tour<\/a> who are left-handed.<\/p>\n

The angles they can generate when facing right-handed players can be extremely difficult to navigate, as many players discovered when facing 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal<\/a> for example.<\/p>\n

But as a left-handed player, Draper faces one challenge in particular, and that is finding players to practice with.<\/p>\n

This is something his fellow lefty Ben Shelton<\/a> also struggles with, as Draper says right-handed players prefer not to hit with left-handed players before a tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the time. It happens every week. I have never been someone who has been that worried about who I hit with, whether it be a lefty or a righty. I am focused on myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a lot of players\u2026 I can understand it, of course, but they get it in their heads that they can\u2019t hit with a lefty before the tournament or before they play, so you end up not having anyone to hit with in the draw.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose Shelton would have said whoever he is playing, everyone is contacting me to want to hit, and vice versa. So I guess just look for someone who is playing one of those players and hopefully I will get a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by PATRICK T. FALLON\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

At January\u2019s Australian Open<\/a>, Shelton reached the second Grand Slam semi-final of his career.<\/p>\n

Before reaching that stage of the competition however, he was asked about the advantages and disadvantages of being a left-handed player, and Shelton said that same thing that Draper has an issue with<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t get a practice,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible, except for when the draw comes out and they play [Jack] Draper, Shapo (Shapovalov), or Ugo Humbert. Then I get the look.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther than that, people don\u2019t want to practice with you as much. For me I don\u2019t mind. I hit with a righty, lefty, tall guy, short guy, serve bot, grinder. Doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys on tour, players or coaches, are particular about who they practice with. Big serve, lefty, that\u2019s two strikes against you. Finding hits can be difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say at the same time people don\u2019t want to hit with lefties so they don\u2019t see your style of game as much. I go out and play against somebody that said no to practising with me the last four times, at least he hasn\u2019t seen my serve. Pros and cons, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Draper is one of the in-form players on the ATP Tour and he is showing no signs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[15571,5005,79,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-70613","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ben-shelton","9":"tag-jack-draper","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114442831374532061","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}