Jack Draper knocked out of French Open by qualifier Jesper de Jong | French Open 2024

Jack Draper continues to search for a monumental result to ignite his career as he suffered a crushing loss in the opening round of the French Open on Sunday, losing 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-3 to Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands in the longest match of his career.

Draper initially seemed en route to an even more miserable defeat as he served extremely badly, struck his forehand tentatively and was overwhelmed by a far more decisive De Jong, a qualifier, quickly falling down two sets and 3-0. But the Briton ­found a second wind.

After retrieving the break, Draper edged out the third set tiebreak and established a 4-1 fourth-set lead when rain delayed play for over an hour. Although Draper eventually forced a final set, his tense, cautious play in it contrasted with De Jong’s willingness to pounce on short balls and control the baseline. After 4 hours six minutes on court, the world No 176 closed Draper out to reach the second round.

Draper’s body has been his issue for so much of his young career and the past few months have marked the first time in his professional career that he has been able to compete week after week on the ATP Tour without physical issues. What seemed like an opportunity to finally piece together consistent wins has instead proven a difficult learning curve.

Since reaching the final in Adelaide at the start of the year, Draper has compiled a 9-11 record. He has lost numerous tight matches, most of them to top players, but this is perhaps his worst grand slam loss of his career so far. Draper will have the opportunity to rebuild his form in the coming weeks as the tour switches to grass, a surface that is far more conducive to the 22-year-old’s game.

With the defeat, Draper also misses out on the opportunity to test his level against Carlos Alcaraz, the third seed, who he would have faced in the second round with a win. Alcaraz reached the second round with an easy 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 win over JJ Wolf and he had no problems with his forearm after struggling with it throughout the clay season.

“I think the arm is 100%,” he said. “Obviously I’m still feeling weird, let’s say, or afraid to hit every forehand, I mean, 100%. It’s still in my mind, but I didn’t feel anything after the match, I didn’t feel anything, which is really, really good for me.”

Amélie Mauresmo, the tournament director, has said Alexander Zverev would be allowed to compete at Roland Garros as long as there has been no decision in his public trial. Zverev’s trial for allegedly physically abusing his former partner Brenda Patea begins on Friday in Berlin during the tournament. Zverev has always denied the charges.

“So far, our policy is that, as long as the trial isn’t finished and there isn’t a decision, he’s considered innocent and so that’s why he’s allowed to be part of the draw,” said Mauresmo. “And as far as the trial is concerned, we’re not going to comment on anything because the trial is happening so we’re going to respect that.”

Mauresmo revealed that Roland Garros had planned a farewell ceremony for Rafael Nadal, but the 14-time champion had said he did not want one with his future still unclear. On Saturday, Nadal said he does not “want to close 100% the door” on Roland Garros after this year as he is still uncertain if this season will be his last. Two weeks ago, the Italian Open organisers had attempted to provide Nadal with a surprise ceremony after his defeat there, but he immediately left the court.

“As you can imagine, we had something planned for him, but he told us actually before yesterday – that because he doesn’t know if it’s going to be his last Roland Garros or not,” said Mauresmo. “He wants to leave the door open for him maybe to come back next year as a player. So we’re not going to push him to do anything.”

Although Andy Murray is also potentially competing at Roland Garros for the final time, Mauresmo, the Scot’s former coach, said he had likewise declined to receive a formal ceremony due to his own uncertainty over when his career will come to an end.

Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, says he is entering Roland Garros with “low expectations and high hopes” after a turbulent few months on the tour. Djokovic is still yet to win a title this season and he was defeated by Tomas Machac in the semi-finals of the Geneva event on Friday.

“Hopefully I can, have a great tournament,” said Djokovic. “Of course it does affect me, the five months that I had so far in the year that haven’t been great in terms of my tennis. That’s why I have a kind of an approach that is focused on a daily basis more trying to build the form and momentum so that I can have a better chance to reach further in the tournament.”