"I don’t mind his frustration at all": Rennae Stubbs critical of Jack Draper's reaction during final of Madrid Open

Ex-coach of the former world number one Serena Williams, Rennae Stubbs, has expressed her discontent about the reactions made by Britain’s Jack Draper in the final of the Madrid Open. The 23-year-old, who is often regarded as one of the most talented players in men’s tennis in the singles category, recently suffered a defeat in the final of the ATP 1000 event in the Spanish capital to Norway’s Casper Ruud with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

During the match, Draper showed his frustration and at one moment, even shouted while looking at his team’s box. Those reactions did not go down well with the ex-coach of the former world number one, Stubbs, who, in a post on a social media platform, criticised the behaviour of Draper. “I’m dead! I’m out! Words spoken by Jack on the change over….. never a good look,” she wrote. Stubbs further went on to respond to a user and further expressed her opinion by stating: “I meant in the response of it’s never good to be saying out loud 'I’m outta here, I’m dead' … I don’t mind his frustration at all. I love it. And look at this, he’s back!”

Despite the result, Draper would have been largely satisfied with his performance, as it was his second ATP 1000 final this season. Earlier, he lifted the Indian Wells title after beating Denmark’s Holger Rune in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2. Draper spoke to the media after the match as quoted by ATP’s official website and stated that he will use the pain of the defeat in the final of Madrid Open to improve his game even further.

“Of course, just fresh off losing a really tough match in a final, it really hurts,” said Draper. “But at the same time, I think I've enjoyed a lot of really good successes here. I've come through a lot of matches, and so maybe this loss, and maybe being in a final and not quite getting over the line, just helps me to fuel my fire a bit more that I need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on improving. I honestly feel like I'm at the start of my journey, so I'm going to keep on improving and keep on pushing hard and keep these sort-of tough moments in my head to keep on driving myself to be better.”