Tennis LIVE: Player slapped with 12-month ban as Zverev lashes out

Laura Robson has urged British No. 1 Jack Draper not to be so critical of his own performances.

Draper was beaten in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz at the Italian Open - but there were plenty of positive signs.

The 23-year-old confessed that Alcaraz had been better both tactically and mentally, but Robson feels he was too hard on himself.

Robson told Sky Sports: "Listening to that [interview], you almost feel like he's too harsh coming off the back of that. Off an amazing few weeks he's had and still thinking about point by point what he could have done differently.

"At that point [when the interview was recorded], I don't think he would have had time to speak to James Trotman, his coach. The fact he's already thinking about exactly what went wrong, what he could do better. I mean, it's a good thing in many ways, but you just wonder mentally, that's got to take it out of you as well to be that tough on yourself day to day.

"Also, when he's speaking about tactics like that, and obviously there was some frustration, but when you're physically not fresh enough to be able to play the way you want to play, I think that's sometimes is super frustrating.

"At times that felt like it was just creeping through in Jack's game where he knows what he should do, but can your legs actually hold up to be able to do it? And after this much tennis, understandably, the energy levels weren't there at times, but that's normal. That's okay, and he'll learn from it and do better next time."

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