GB’s Jack Draper Was Defeated By American Taylor Fritz At The Paris Olympics 2024

Jack Draper, the British men’s  GB star faded in the sweltering Paris heat as the nation’s interest in the Olympics singles ended in the second round. He blasted Olympic chiefs for making tennis players drink hot water in the intense heat.

Gauff Loses in the Second Round

Draper is defeated by 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 2-6 to American seventh seed Taylor Fritz on the Roland Garros clay. He was engaged by the lack of availability of cold water and the fact that he had to stand up to refill his bottle between ends, rather than catch his breath.

American second seed Coco Gauff was defeated by  7-6 (9-7) 6-2 against Croatia’s Donna Vekicin in the third round of the women’s singles.

An emotional Gauff disintegrated in the second set after a row with chair umpire Jaume Campistol over a line call which proved pivotal.

Draper’s Statement 

Jack Draper said: “I told the referee it’s pretty poor that the players have to drink hot water when we are playing in those conditions”

“We did have ice towels but it’s important we have good fridges to keep our water cool. It’s so tough to recover when you are not replenishing properly.”

“There was no escape from the heat even at the change of ends. I haven’t played in much hotter conditions than that. Your body starts to really fight against you, I definitely feel Fritz dealt with it better than me. You can refill your bottles at the change of ends but after playing tough points and running around, I ended up not sitting down because I was refilling my drink. At all other tournaments you have fridges and coolers with ice. It’s not good enough.”

“That court has no shelter even when the umbrellas are on you, your legs are in the sun. It felt like there was no escape from it.” he concluded 

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