Opposed to the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jack Draper had to face a wild public who were obviously behind his opponent.
The Briton, despite this hostile atmosphere, managed to remain solid and win in five sets (6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3) and almost five hours of play.
At a press conference, he mentioned the borderline behavior of several fans present in the John Cain Arena:
“It was an electric atmosphere. I received a lot of insults, between services, from the spectators at the baseline. To be honest, it gave me energy.
In difficult times, everything they told me motivated me. When they tell you things, it’s just nice to listen to them or do things like that.
I won’t say what they told me, but there were some interesting things, that’s for sure (smile). You can imagine what kind of things.
Obviously, when you’re serving and you hear that, it’s not easy. But I’m a badass, so it was fun, to be honest. »
Swiss
