MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 20, 2026

Jack Draper

Press Conference

R. OPELKA/J. Draper

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Can you just reflect on the result and how hard it is to deal with someone that's serving like that, how few chances I suppose you have to get any rhythm?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, tough result. I think Reilly deserves credit. He played a great match. Served, yeah, it was untouchable for me.

Yeah, I guess I did some good stuff, some not-so-good stuff, and fair play to him. He won.

Q. Bad luck. How do you feel you played then I guess in trying to kind of counter that dominant serving? Also, given kind of the circumstances coming back so soon, are you able to be a bit kinder to yourself in a way after a match like this?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, it hurts to lose, especially early on in this competition. I have wanted to do well here, considering I haven't quite done so well in the past.

I think I could have done a few things better, but, I mean, it was pretty tough, like, I didn't have many chances, especially on his serve. I didn't get broken in the match, so that was kind of my job, right?

Yeah, I guess I'm still at the very early stages of coming back from what was a very difficult injury to deal with. If someone said that I'm going to be playing Dubai, Indian Wells, here, and go home feeling good, then I would have taken that, because it's a long season to go, and I know it's going to be a long process, as well.

Q. Two things that are kind of different. After how well you did on clay last year, how different is your mindset in terms of attacking that part of the calendar?

JACK DRAPER: I'm actually really looking forward to it. I think it's probably good for my game to play on some courts where I can get a lot of rhythm with my tennis again.

Dubai and especially this week, very quick courts. I feel like apart from Indian Wells, I played a couple of tournaments where it's just been serve/return. So I'm looking forward to getting on the clay actually and playing some rallies and getting my confidence back in my tennis, yeah.

Q. The second thing, there has been a push over the last year or so for players who have been in the top 10 talking to the Grand Slams about prize money increases, ATP and WTA players both. I'm wondering how involved you have been in that and what you think of that effort.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I think it's an interesting one. I do think it's lesser about the prize money. It's more about it being equal. You know, I think the ATP have done a really good job actually with a lot of things -- player welfare, pension, all these things -- and I think the Grand Slams can definitely contribute a little bit more to some important sides of tennis which aren't often seen on the core player welfare, like I said, that sort of stuff.

I think it's more just about doing what's right for the players, to be honest.

Q. Obviously a difficult match today, but is there anything you can take from your experiences of Miami and that match in particular? Probably difficult when it's facing someone who was serving like that.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, it's difficult. Obviously I can't really dissect my own game too much, because yeah, you know, it's very different tennis match to what you're used to, probably the one guy on the tour who serves how he does.

I think there is definitely a lot of areas I can take away from the last few weeks. I think it's going to take me time to get back to where I want to be with my tennis and my physicality and everything after the injury I have had.

You know, it's one thing to, you know, come back to the competitiveness, but sometimes it's like people think, oh, just because you have been away, you must be feeling great, must be feeling really fresh mentally and ready to go.

It's different to that, because obviously you go through so much when you get injured, and it's mentally very tough to come back just to competing.

Like I said, I think it's just going to be a bit of a process for me, and my momentum that I had last year, I'm going to have to earn that back again. I guess that's the thing, I'm going to go away, work hard, and earn that momentum, yeah.

Q. Is it difficult to get your head around the fact that you might not have that same momentum that you did last year? Because obviously this time last year, off the back of a win at Indian Wells.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, definitely it's a tough one in tennis to get momentum that you worked so hard for, and especially with my injury that I was out for eight months, you know, it takes a lot from you, for sure.

It's a challenge to get back to where I want to be, and I'll definitely embrace it. I'm looking forward to getting myself back in a good place.

Q. I have seen a few interviews where you said that maybe, like, your intensity every day in some ways maybe worked against you and led to your body breaking down, and that maybe you need to be a bit less intense in some ways. In what way can you be less intense without losing kind of things that make you great at tennis?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I think more so when I was, a couple years ago I struggled a lot physically on the court with cramp and all these things, and I had to work very hard physically to get to a better spot. I had a real transformation with my body and my mindset.

Since 2023, I did amazingly well. I guess I always worked incredibly hard, but it gets to the point where I'm kind of in, I guess, more my man's frame now in terms of my maturity of my body, so maybe I need different things. Athletes need different things at different stages of their development.

So I don't mean that I'll be doing less. I just mean that maybe I'll work a little bit smarter and a little bit more in areas that I need to.

I definitely feel like when you get injured, it's tough to work on those areas, because, you know, you're just coming back from the injury and you need to focus all your energy into getting all that sorted. Definitely going to be ramping up my intensity and what I can do, because now my body is feeling better.

Q. Just on those player letters, I think at the time, all of the ATP top 10 and all but one of the WTA top 10 signed it. Talking to some players, some of them aren't that interested, where it seems like you have taken an interest in it. Is that fair to say? How important is it to you that certain things change on the tour, whether it's this, whether it's the scheduling you have spoke out about in the past?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I think obviously it's very different, two different sides of things, right? The Grand Slam letters were different than on the ATP side, but like I said in my previous answer, it's about what's doing right for the players.

You know, I think people, when they see online or something, oh, the players wanting more money and all this sort of stuff. It's not really that. It's about the Grand Slams collectively contributing more to different areas that the players need.

Also, yeah, I mean, there is many, many things that could change in tennis. I think the most important thing for me is the Grand Slams, the ATP, the ITF, they all work together collectively, because I think in the last year since I have been on tour, it's been very apparent that they all work individually, and that's not what's best for the players at all.

So I hope that they can come together and sort out some of the stuff and work together to make the sport better and make it the sport that we love and want to be the best sport in the world.