Jack Draper stands with Jannik Sinner: "He does not deserve the hate he receives"

In a lengthy interview with BBC Sport and the Guardian, Jack Draper reiterated his closeness to his friend Jannik Sinner, who is finishing his three-month disqualification in the Clostebol case: “When people ask me about him, or anyone else, I tell them the truth. I think that Jannik is a really genuine and kind person. And beyond that, he is obviously an incredible player. I’m sure he’s unrelated to this whole thing. That’s the way life goes, sometimes you make mistakes”.

“As for how I really feel about him as a person, I think it is important that people know and recognize that he is a very, very generous person and a decent human being. So he doesn”t deserve at all the hate he gets” added the number six in the world.

The two have been training together for the last few days: “I was looking for some training for the week and I knew Jannik was available and in Monte Carlo on clay, so I arranged with his team to go there for three or four days and train with him. I mean, if you can train with somebody, you might as well do it with one of the best in the world, right? He’s obviously had some time off, but he’s still playing at an incredible level. I’m looking forward to him coming back to the circuit, because I think his presence has been missed. It was good to be with him a few days and do some good sparring”.

“I actually didn&#8220t talk to him much. On the court, Jannik is always very professional. He is number 1 in the world for a reason. He is very consistent, he plays very well. [This] has not changed at all. Maybe a little rusty in some areas, but at the same time he is improving every day. The more we played points, the stronger he became” Draper concluded.