Jack Draper is through to the fourth round of the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
has revealed working with a new “breathing coach” has helped him stay calm in the heat of battle at the .
The British No.1 claimed his third five-set win here – and a fourth round clash with – were rewards for building his physical and mental fitness.
Draper, 23, was dogged by injuries earlier in his career and missed a pre-Christmas training block with the Spaniard and the United Cup because of a hip injury.
And he has admitted his physical problems were connected with feeling tense, especially in big matches.
But the No.15, who suffers from sinus issues, has used his downtime to improve his breathing technique and take air through his nose.
And Draper reckoned the benefits have been shown in two tense wins over Aussie players – Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic – before he faces the champion.
The big left-hander said: “I think obviously there’s always been that sort of question mark in my head over five-set matches, and am I able to do it? From a mental part of side of things and physical as well, is my body going to hold up?
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work in general over time. By having that time off with my hip, I was able to focus on working on a few different things. I was working a lot with a breathing coach and just trying to understand that a bit better. I’ve always had problems with my sinuses. So I think that’s really helping.
Jack Draper will face Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
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“I had a lot of problems with my sinuses when I was younger, so I breathe a lot through my mouth. Obviously when you are anxious or when you have long points and you have to recover quickly, it’s not efficient to breathe through your mouth.
“So I’ve been trying to reverse what I do and breathe through my nose a lot better and a lot more and just, yeah, I think sometimes you don’t realise how sort of uptight your body is. Especially me, because I’ve always been someone who likes to try hard, and I think sometimes it’s just you have to relax.
“Especially in tennis, because you need to be free to, I don’t know, let your muscles do what they need to do. So obviously if you’re tense the whole time, you’re not going to last too long.
“I just think in general staying a lot calmer and just, yeah, not being too uptight. I think that’s helping me to go for longer.”
The No.15 seed will not have the pressure of expectation in his first fourth round match against the world No.3.
Alcaraz leads their head-to-head record 2-1 but Draper won their last meeting on grass at Queen’s Club last summer. “The grass obviously is a win, but I think he just came off the French Open and had a bit of time off,” cautioned the British No.1 “I had just won Stuttgart, and the grass is a completely different ball game.
“We obviously played in Basel. We played in Indian Wells. I was injured there. I know what to expect from him. He’s going to come out with a lot of energy, and obviously he’s a special talent. I need to be aggressive. I need to take my chances.
“Against the top players you get less and less chances to win games and sets and all these sort of things. I need to be brave in the way I play, but I’m expecting him to come out and know that I’ve played three five-setters and know that he’s got a battle on his hands, and he’s going to have to play well.”