Izuchukwu Okosi
British number 1 men’s tennis star Jack Draper has been eliminated in the round of 16 stage of the French Open Monday night.
Draper, who is currently the world number 5 in the ATP men’s ranking, suffered the ignominy of heading home to the lower ranked opponent despite having the first real chance at 4-4.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelDraper did prove his mettle afterwards but Bublik showed immense staying power on Day 10 to become the first Kazakh man to reach the quarterfinals of a men’s Grand Slam tournament.
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After some nervous moments, Bublik produced some exhilarating tennis in his 26th Grand Slam main draw.
Acknowledging the raucous crowd, the victorious Kazakh stated: “Sometimes in life there is only one chance, and I had a feeling that was mine. I couldn’t let it slip. Standing here is the best moment of my life – period.
“Thank you guys, that was amazing. I’m standing here like I won the thing, but what can I say? I can’t cry here – come on, let me be in peace!
“I still have a match to go, I’m a professional tennis player and I’ve got to get ready.”
Assessing his performance, he said: “I left it all out there. I have a certain skill set to play tennis, and it worked marvellously today. It’s 100 per cent one of the best matches I have ever played in my life. That was as simple as that.”
On appearing nerveless on court, the new sebsatin6 HH: “Sometimes I feel like there are a certain amount of matches I have played in my life, for example, the Halle title that I won [2023], the Roland-Garros in doubles that I didn’t [2021 runner-up], and today’s match, sometimes I have a feeling like there is only one chance.
“I told myself, ‘You have this chance, you do your best. If it doesn’t work, I’m out.’ In certain moments I do believe there is only one chance. That’s why I played full and I played high risk, because that was the only chance.”
