Jack Draper was stunned by an outrageous drop shot from Francisco Cerundolo while representing Great Britain at the Davis Cup. The 22-year-old was tasked with levelling up against Argentina following Dan Evans’ defeat to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first singles match.
Draper, making his return to the court after his run to the US Open semi-finals, lost the first set with Cerundolo making a quick start to proceedings. The Brit broke his opponent at the start of the second set but was powerless to stop Cerundolo from breaking back in remarkable fashion.
After a long rally, Cerundolo flicked an exquisite drop shot over the net with the amount of spin on the ball leaving Draper unable to return it. The former celebrated by triumphantly pointing to the skies, while Argentina captain Guillermo Coria put his hands on his head in utter disbelief.
Davis Cup commentator Lee Goodall was left gobsmacked, saying: “Oh, you have got to be joking me. You will not see too many better drop shots than that. Quite incredible. Just look at Coria’s reaction.”
Co-commentator Nick Lester added: “Jaw-dropping stuff. Coria had a pretty good drop shot on him back in the day, didn’t he? But I’m not sure he’s ever hit one quite as good as that.”
Cerundolo went on to win the second set to claim a surprise 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 triumph over Draper and secure victory for Argentina. Great Britain can still qualify for the Davis Cup knockout stages in November but will need to rely on other results going their way.
Speaking after the match, Cerundolo said: “I’m super happy, super proud of me, my team, my country. We knew it was going to be a really tough tie and that we have to win because if not we are out.
“I think Tomas [Martin Etcheverry] played a great match and I think I played one of the best matches of my life so I am super happy to beat a player like Jack.
“Of course, in every tough match you have some shots, a bit of luck or some lines, if you go for it, you can hit some lines or you can hit a little bit out, but you have to go [for it] and I think that today I did that. I went every point forward, trying to be aggressive and play with my forehand.
“I think that was a big game again because I was really aggressive throughout the whole match. We are having a great week, we are enjoying it a lot.”
