Carlos Alcaraz appears to be reaching peak form ahead of the defence of his French Open title, but former British No 1 Tim Henman has suggested there are weak spots in the Spaniard’s game.
Draper was one win away from climbing up to No 4 in the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career and while the 6-4, 6-4 scoreline may have looked comfortable for Alcaraz, this match could have swung in another direction if Draper had taken his chances.
“Carlos was better tactically and emotionally than me. I sit here very frustrated with my match today,” Draper told Sky Sports Tennis.
“I could have tactically changed a few things better and I think emotionally I was too negative.
“A lot of that is how much tennis I’ve played, but top players bring that out of you, and Carlos was the better player and deserved to win. I’ve got to keep on working on being more physical. It’s a bit more of a chess game on clay and I’m still learning.
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“I am looking forward to going back to Roland-Garros after last year, which was a disappointing one. I feel like I’ve never really played really good, confident tennis there, so I am looking forward to that. I’m hungry to get there and carry on this form on the clay courts.”
Alcaraz now holds a 4-2 winning record against Draper, after the Spaniard suggested he was concerned about the weapons Draper brings onto a tennis court after his defeat against Draper at Indian Wells in March.
Draper can take encouragement that he was competitive against Alcaraz on his favoured clay courts, but Henman believes there are flaws in his game that could undermine his ambitions going into the French Open.
Alcaraz has slumped to some surprising defeats over the last year and Henman believes his occasional dips in concentration are an issue that he needs to address.
“The one area I have reflected on with Alcaraz for some time is shot selection,” Henman told Sky Sports Tennis.
“Shot selection is around concentration, clarity of thought and when I watched him play today [against Draper], it was erratic.
“He does hit some amazing shots, but he throws in a double fault when you are least expecting it and he goes for a crazy shot and misses it.
“For me, there isn’t quite the discipline and intensity at this event. I would expect that to change in a Grand Slam.
“That, for me, is what makes him the favourite on clay, with his movement on clay and his ability to hit those shots at Roland Garros. I think he’ll win the French.”
Henman went on to suggest Alcaraz still has some way to go to match the levels of intensity of the game’s all-time greats, as he mentioned Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal an Novak Djokovic.
“The reality is, the very best have good habits whatever the event,” he added.
“With Alcaraz, we are in a conversation with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and that’s the slight question mark with Alcaraz. I love watching him play, he’s absolutely brillant, but there there are times when he lacks the discipline around shot selection.
“When you are talking about building that Grand Slam tally and getting into double figures, that’s the question mark for me.”
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