British No 1 Jack Draper has confirmed that he has split with coach Wayne Ferreira ahead of the US Open.
Draper kicks off his US Open campaign against China’s Zhang Zhizhen on Tuesday – live on Sky Sports Tennis.
He comes into the tournament on the back of a promising run to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open last week, but will play in New York after axing Ferreira from his training staff after just four months together.
The 22-year-old, who made an impressive run to the fourth round last year showing he is a threat on the American hard courts, will revert to working solely with James Trotman.
“Wayne coming on board was obviously a good decision based on his value as a coach and he was experienced as a player but I’ve always been a player who likes to keep things simple,” said Draper during his media conference at Flushing Meadows.
“I’ve never had that team dynamic before where I’ve got two different voices and two different coaches and I always wanted Trots to be the one leading what I was doing. I just felt like it was not as simple as I liked and I wanted one voice in my team and I feel like it was probably the right thing to part ways with Wayne and keep it how I want it as a player.
“That being said my time with Wayne has been amazing, I’ve learned a lot. I sort of got a lot of value from him. I think he’s an amazing guy and one who will continue to be a friend.”
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Ferreira’s results with Draper were positive, with the young Brit upsetting Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s before claiming the Stuttgart Open title while he skyrocketed up the rankings during their brief time working together.
“Some of that is the way Wayne saw my game and also a lot of it was the fact that I had to come through some tough losses, experiences where I’ve bene losing 7-6 in the third and not taking it to the opponent,” said Draper.
“After the French Open I had a big mentality shift in thinking I’m not going to be the player I want to be unless I don’t really try and change myself. It’s all well and good somebody telling you that you have to change – you have to change yourself.
“I think that was good timing with Wayne. I’m a different player and I’m constantly trying to be a different player to evolve and get better as a player.”
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