BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 9, 2026

Jack Draper

Press Conference

J. DRAPER/F. Cerundolo

6-1, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Jack. A straight-sets win for you today. Are you looking forward to the next round with Novak?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, definitely. Obviously have tomorrow off to prepare for that. Yeah, today was a decent performance, and glad with the way I came out, especially in the first set.

The second set was a little bit up and down, a bit ropey, but tough conditions and managed to come through and play well when I needed to. Looking forward to Wednesday.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What sort of mark out of 10 would you give that performance, given how you played in the first round and the fact that you're coming back?

JACK DRAPER: Definitely came out feeling better about my tennis, my body, you know, what I kind of expected and said the other day, like each time I come out and give myself the opportunity to play, I'll be good.

I think the first set was very high, probably like an 8. I think the second set was, you know, probably more like a 4. You know, I was very up and down. Managed to sort of get through on a bit of grit and play great tennis especially when I needed to at 5-All, I think.

That's the sort of thing I'm looking for. I'm looking to be consistent throughout the whole match. I think that will come the more I play.

Q. How's the body feeling?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I feel great. Honestly, I feel really good. I think it was probably a good thing in Dubai that I played a couple of matches and maybe not more than that, because sort of got me back used to competing but didn't spike my load too much.

I think I was able to come here, a week of training, and good to play a three-set match maybe first round to get more time on court.

Obviously each day I'm practicing, as well, so it's not like I'm playing every day. I feel really, really good and looking forward to just building some momentum with that.

Q. Could you just talk a little bit about the challenge of playing Novak? Have you seen much of his matches so far?

JACK DRAPER: No, I haven't really seen much of him play here, but I know what to expect from Novak. I have been watching him since I was young. He's obviously I think the greatest tennis player of all time, my opinion. His mentality and just his level of tennis is always incredibly high.

I'm going to have to play really well and take my chances, but more than anything, just very grateful to not only be out here but to be having the opportunity to play against these guys, and keep on improving my level and giving myself another chance to compete on the stages I want to be at.

Q. You were out of tennis unfortunately due to injury last year. What did you do? What were your interests, activities, since you were not able to be in tennis so much?

JACK DRAPER: No, I think it's obviously difficult, because it's an individual sport. We spend our lives on the road, sort of being away from family, and you're kind of living life out of a suitcase at 100 miles an hour, and you don't stop to think about doing normal things.

When I was injured, I definitely went away a couple of times. Went on holiday for the first time in, I think, eight years, so that was interesting. I think it was difficult, because I was constantly training through my injury period, because if you take too much time out in tennis, you'll just completely decondition, and then it will be really hard to come back.

I was kind of training through it, to be honest. I was working hard still. Obviously being at home, being surrounded by family, is something that I never get to do usually, so that was really nice. Spent a lot of time in the UK, as well. I love the UK, so it was nice to be there, as well. Nothing crazy, to be honest.

It was just day in, day out, trying to get my arm back to where I need it to be. I never knew when I was going to be able to get back on court again and be strong, but I knew that I had to work pretty hard consistently.

Q. With this tournament, you and Arthur Fils have come back, similar times, both going well here. Have you spoken to him much? I saw some footage of you, I think chatting on court. Wondered if you were close with him, talked about your recoveries and that sort of thing?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I spoke to him in the changing room. He asked how I was. I said I'm good, and we were laughing about how much sort of time we'd missed almost, I think he probably longer than me, actually.

But both of our injuries, obviously very similar, bone injuries. Yeah, we were just laughing because they're nasty. They're nasty injuries. They're not easy. It's not like a pulled muscle where you know when you're going to be back.

It's a long, long process. I didn't go into the details with him, but I can imagine he was on the same kind of trajectory of difficult times as I was, because I know the process with the bone injuries, and they're long and hard.

So I have a lot of respect for Arthur. I think he's an amazing player. Pretty impressive the way he's sort of come back, as well. He's winning lots of matches, final at Doha, and doing well here. So I wish him all the best, and he's a good lad, yeah.

Q. Do you like to watch him?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I do like to watch him. I think he's got a lot of flair about him. I think he's got a really good attitude. He shows lot of energy, he's like gritty obviously, like he competes hard.

And, yeah, I think it's good, you know, for French tennis that they've got a player like him, for sure.