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British number one Jack Draper wants to fill the sizeable shoes of Andy Murray – even if they did used to stink the locker room out.
Life after Murray begins in earnest on Monday with the start of the US Open in the first grand slam since the Scot called time on his glittering career.
The absence of the three-time grand-slam champion leaves a big hole in British tennis, but at 22, Draper is the best hope of flying the flag.
“It seems a bit sort of weird not having Andy there with his rancid, stinking shoes lying next to me in the locker room,” Draper said ahead of his first-round match with Zhang Zhizhen on Tuesday.
“Andy’s shoes would always be drying out next to me with his wedding ring on it and that sort of stuff.
“I do miss his presence a lot. I think it’s important that I do obviously feel a responsibility to really play good tennis and be the British number one.
“So I miss Andy, but obviously, things have to come to an end, and hopefully I can keep on going from here and the other players as well.
“I will miss those moments when you’re in the locker room before matches and you’ve got someone as great as Andy sat next to you.
“It’s mad sitting next to one of your idols from a young age, and yet to not have them here anymore is obviously difficult.”
While Emma Raducanu described Murray as “old news” in the build-up to the tournament, Katie Boulter insists the 37-year-old’s retirement will leave a big hole.
“He’s been so well established in the British tennis system for so long now, he’s kind of been the one holding us all up,” she said.
It seems a bit sort of weird not having Andy there with his rancid, stinking shoes lying next to me in the locker room— Jack Draper
“He’s been there the whole entire time, and I don’t take that for granted. I think everything that he’s done for us is incredible. I think it put British tennis on another level, and inspired so many kids.
“There’s always going to be a hole in British tennis, and I think there’s going to be a lot of people that will fill it, and hopefully I can be one of them.”
Meanwhile, Draper has spoken of his upset at the reaction to the controversy on his match point against Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati last week.
Draper was accused of cheating when he appeared to hit the ball into the ground at the net before it looped over, with players past and present wading into the debate on social media.
“I think it’s hard to stay away from it,” he said. “I’ve always valued myself on being honest and a good person.
“Forget the tennis – that is one of the most important things to me in my life. So to obviously see that stuff, and see people talking about you for the first time in a negative way – and questioning your integrity and stuff like that – it’s obviously difficult to see.
“I don’t blame people for doing that. Obviously, on the slow mo, when you watch it from the side, it’s very clear it’s an illegal shot. There’s no doubt about that.
“But obviously, when you’re in the moment and you serve out wide and the guy’s hit a 95mph ball at your feet, you just put a racket down and I didn’t know what happened.
“I was thinking about it four days non-stop. I was really upset by it.
“I think anyone would be lying if they’re saying they’re not hurt by seeing a lot of comments saying ‘you’re a cheat’, ‘you’re a liar’. And ‘I would have done this, and I would have done that’.
“It’s hard in that situation to know what to do and also it’s good because it’s my first experience of sort of having negativity and having criticism and that’s all part of being a top athlete.
“People questioned my integrity, which is fine, but I was definitely hurt by it.”
