Britain’s Jack Draper knocked out of French Open after suffering the worst defeat of his career to world no. 176
Jack Draper was eliminated in the French Open first round after a shock defeat to world no. 176 Jesper de Jong.
The British number two lost 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3 in four hours and 12 minutes - the longest match of his career so far.
While Draper did manage to fight back from two sets down, he lost in the final set to be sent prematurely packing from Roland-Garros.
By ranking, it goes down as the worst defeat of the 22-year-old's career to date.
Speaking after the match, Draper was clear about where his game fell short, saying: "My serve has been a problem this year.
"I'm trying to change it to make it better, and I've made those changes in the last few weeks. So it's not comfortable, especially in a Grand Slam playing in a fifth set on a second serve.
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"The confidence isn't there at the moment on my serve and it's a problem I'm going to have to work on with coaches and see where I can make it more consistent because it's really letting me down.
"The frustrating thing is I feel like I'm missing my serves by such a small distance every time and I can't wrap my head around how that's possible.
"This loss hurts a lot. I've played a long match there. Felt physically great. I look at the positives on that side, but my tennis... I know I'm so much better than how I played today, and that's what hurts.
"We have to have a short-term memory in tennis and there will be more opportunities to come. I just hope I can learn from this loss."
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