Jack Draper suffers shock French Open exit as British hopes ended

Jack Draper crashed out of the French Open in a shock fourth-round defeat by number 62 Alexander Bublik. The British number one and fifth seed seemed to have his head scrambled by the unpredictable slugger from Kazakhstan as he slumped to a 5-7 6-3 6-2 6-4 loss.

It meant an end to Britain’s hopes in the singles at Roland Garros after Cameron Norrie, somewhat less surprisingly, was beaten by Novak Djokovic about an hour earlier.

Instead, 27-year-old Bublik became the first Kazakh man to reach a grand slam quarter-final. Draper had matched Bublik serve for serve in the first set until he was gifted the break for 6-5 by a double-fault.

The 23-year-old also broke at the start of the second, but from then on things just seemed to unravel. Bublik, to his credit, was hitting the ball gloriously at times, his drop-shots repeatedly leaving Draper stranded.

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The stress on Draper’s face was there for all to see as Bublik marched into a 2-1 lead, with the Londoner simply unable to halt the momentum.

In a marathon final game Draper saved a match point and had five break points, but was unable to take any of them. In the build-up to the match Bublik had compared Draper to a fighter, but after two hours and 34 minutes it was the 6ft 5in underdog who landed the knockout blow.

Bublik said afterwards: “You know sometimes in life there is only one chance. I had a feeling that I was mine and I couldn’t let it slip. Standing here this is the best moment of my life. That’s amazing, monsieurs et madames, thank you very much.”

Grinning from ear to ear as the crowd gave him a standing ovation, he hilariously cut short his on-court interview.

“You know I’m standing here like I won the thing,” he added. “I could cry here. Stop. I still have a match to go. I’m a professional tennis player. I have to get ready.”