Jack Draper put his attacks of vomiting during his US Open semi-final defeat down to a combination of humidity, the physicality of the contest and his anxiety during the biggest match of his life.
‘It was extremely humid today,’ said Draper after his 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 defeat by Italian Jannik Sinner.
‘It was a very physical match, Jannik is No1 player in the world – when you play the top players, the intensity is different, it’s a step up.
‘It’s a big occasion for me. Even though I generally feel pretty relaxed, I definitely felt more excited today, a few more nerves. I’m quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes I do feel a bit of nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.
‘I didn’t have any problems before the match, but it obviously just built up.’
Jack Draper put his attacks of vomiting down to humidity, physical exertion and his anxiety
Draper vomited three times during the match and was also sweating profusely. But he competed well and will leave with many positives from his first run to a Grand Slam semi final.
‘You just feel worse and worse, because you can’t put anything in your body,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘Playing long matches, you need to be able to drink and to eat things to give your body the supplies it needs to keep on going.
‘But obviously when you’re feeling sick and stuff like that, you can’t put anything inside your body, because it just comes straight out, and it’s the worst feeling ever. You can’t move around the court when that happens.
‘It’s a horrible feeling, and you feel more dizzy and more sick.’
Draper said he never considered retiring from the match. ‘No, no, no, I’m not going to retire in the semis of a Grand Slam. I know the last set was not a great look but at the end of the day, I always try and give my best.
Draper vomited three times during the match and was also sweating profusely in New York
‘The second set I was feeling not too great and I still pushed it to a tiebreak. I was fighting hard. I’m proud of myself. I tried to fight as hard as I can. Just not going to get it done against someone like that.’
On being an anxious person and how he deals with that, Draper said: ‘Tennis is hugely mental and physical. I try my best all the time to keep on evolving, to keep on learning, and it’s definitely something I’ve had to just work through my whole life.
‘I’ve got quite a strong mentality and I use up a lot of mental energy a lot of the time because I want it so badly.
‘That doesn’t necessarily help a lot of the time, especially in these best of five set matches that sort of anxiety and those feelings can build up. So it’s definitely just something that is a real strength of mine but also a weakness, and I have to continue to work on it.’
