ack Draper has no idea how his body and his game will hold up at the French Open when it gets under way this weekend.
Draper has played just three tournaments since the Australian Open after being hampered by a hip injury.
Following a six-week break before last week’s Lyon Open, where he won his opening two matches, the 21-year-old believes he has got to the root of the problem.
He begins his French Open ambitions against Tomas Etcheverry on Monday but readily admitted he had no idea how he will fare on debut at Roland Garros.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen this week, I have no idea,” he said. “But I’ve done all the right things in the last six weeks, trained really well, looked after myself.
“I feel really good coming into this tournament but I’ve not had many opportunities in Slams to play four or five sets. I’m still waiting to find that confidence in my body. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my tennis.”
Draper’s hip problem first surfaced last season and again flared up at the start of the year, which was causing him chronic pain.
It took time to get to the bottom of the issue, which was caused by scar tissue wrapping around the back of his hip and affecting the nerve. Following an injection, he is now pain free and confident of putting together a string of tournaments from Paris onwards.
“I’m glad that I’ve found the cause of it,” Draper said of the injury. “There’s nothing worse as an athlete than having something wrong with you and not find out what it is.”
To strengthen his body he has been working with Dejan Vojnovic, a former sprinter turned bobsleigh athlete who has worked on the ATP Tour for 15 years now.
Sessions prior to Lyon involved him working for 11 hours a day at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. And Draper is hopeful next week begins the start of his turnaround.
“You have to be consistently fit and, if you’re not, you’re going to get injured,” he said. “My tennis level is at a really good place, it’s getting the body right. I’m still young and I’m still figuring that out.”
