Jack Draper: The 6ft 4in left-hander and Indian Wells champion with tennis in his blood

Sky News

17-03-2025

He has long been touted as the next star of British tennis. Now, at the age of 23, Jack Draper has broken into the top 10 of the men's world rankings.
The London-born ace won the biggest tournament of his career over the weekend - the ATP Masters 1000 of Indian Wells, California, often described as the "fifth slam".
Draper even got a message from the Princess of Wales - who is patron of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) - commending him on his "fantastic performance".
The Indian Wells victory - a straight set win over Holger Rune of Denmark - has propelled Draper to a career-high of seventh in the world.
"I wasn't expecting it at the start of the week," he told Sky Sports after his victory.
"I feel like I deserve it in all honesty.
"The amount of adversity I've been through, the amount of sacrifices, the amount of time all the people around me have put into me and the hard work.
"It's an emotional feeling to know how much you've gone through and put in and to be here now, to say I'm going to seven in the world, I can't tell you how much that means to me."
The victory has raised expectations that Draper could now make a bid for the game's biggest titles - so what has his career so far looked like, and has he got his sights firmly on a Grand Slam title?
Background and career so far
The 6ft 4in left-hander from Sutton turned pro in 2018, having been introduced to the sport by his mother, Nicky, a former British junior champion.
She took him to his first training session at the Sutton Tennis and Squash Club, where she was a coach, when he was just six.
Tennis is in his blood on both sides; his father, Roger, was a talented amateur tennis player and chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) from 2006 to 2013.
He also hasn't kept all his eggs in the tennis basket, having been signed to international modelling agency IMG, since he was around 18.
Draper really started making his mark in 2021 with impressive victories over Jannik Sinner and Alexander Bublik at the 2021 Cinch Championships at the Queen's Club.
He went on to win his first ATP Challenger title in Forli at the beginning of the 2022 season, then became the youngest Briton to win three ATP Challenger singles titles at the age of 20 - lifting three trophies in two months.
In June 2024 he claimed his first ATP title at the Stuttgart Open, surpassing Cameron Norrie to become the new British number one.
Before that, he had reached ATP finals in Sofia and Adelaide.
A few months later, in September, Draper became the first British male to reach the US Open semi-final since Andy Murray in 2012, who went on to win it.
Having reached the stage without dropping a set, he eventually lost to world number one Sinner after being sick on the court in New York.
Like all athletes, injuries have stunted Draper's progress at times.
At the start of the year, Draper missed the United Cup due to a hip injury. The same injury also prevented him from attending a training camp with four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.
He later played in the Australian Open in Melbourne but was forced to retire mid-match against Alcaraz in the fourth round.
Overcoming the injuries - and key to success
Having been vocal about the toll of his physical setbacks, Draper revealed last year that there were times he doubted his career in the sport altogether.
"I've had times when I've maybe thought to stop or, 'Am I cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough?' And all these sorts of stuff," he said, after securing victory in last year's US Open quarter-final.
"I think it helps the fact that I've been in a lot of kind of low points already in my career where I've had injuries, I've had setbacks.
"I kept on believing in myself, kept on working. Those are hard moments."
Going into Indian Wells he had been managing a hip problem, but said he believes improving his forehand has been a key factor in his rise up the rankings.
"I worked really hard on it with my coach [James Trotman]," he said.
"When I first started working with him my forehand was a weapon, but it was also a weakness.
"My backhand, I could always hit that with my eyes closed but with the forehand I felt that putting any pace into it was a problem and also the ability to hurt off that side.
"I remember when I played Carlos [Alcaraz] here a couple of years ago I felt like I couldn't hit the skin off a rice pudding so I feel like I've come a long way with that."
He added that he still thinks he can improve his game, something he said was "really exciting".
"I feel like a lot of players maybe are kind of maxed out in some ways. I feel like I've still got a lot to work on and a lot to uncover with my tennis."
In pursuit of a Grand Slam title
Victory at this year's Indian Wells saw Draper secure his 39th victory in 61 matches - alongside £2m in prize money.
It has also seemingly only made him more determined in pursuit of a Grand Slam title.
"It's obviously a huge goal of mine to win a slam," he said.
"It's kind of different in the slams, it's five sets, it's a little bit of a change. But I'm definitely believing more and more that I can compete consistently against the top players in the world. I feel like I belong completely."
He said he wasn't ever thinking about winning a 250 or 500 or 1000 or semis of a major, but said he had done all those things by "working hard and putting one foot in front of the other, knuckling down trying to improve all the time, trying to be the best player I can be".
Next up: Miami Open
Hot off his win in California, Draper will be staying stateside as he takes part in the Miami Open, which takes place from now until 30 March.
He is sixth seed in the tournament, which is held at the Hard Rock Stadium. His opponent will be drawn on Monday at 6pm.
Later in the season, the clay-court season features big tournaments in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, ahead of the French Open from 25 May to 8 June.
Wimbledon then runs from 30 June to 15 July before Draper returns to Flushing Meadows, for the US Open from 30 August to 2 September.
'Murray is there for me if I need it'
Securely in the top 10, Draper has become the highest-ranked British male star since Murray.
Draper said last year he had spoken to the retired great, who has now joined Novak Djokovic's coaching team, a few times in the past, but said he is focusing on following his own path.
"I feel like when people you respect give you advice, it's obviously always good, but at the end of the day, it's their experience," he said at the time.
"I think it's important to live these situations yourself and understand it for yourself, because everyone reacts differently to different pressures, different situations, different emotions.
"I know Andy is there for me if I need it, but at the same time, I feel pretty relaxed. I feel pretty good, and I'm just taking it one day at a time, and looking to keep on going forward."
Draper has also spoken fondly of his friendship with Sinner, who he called a "good friend".
The pair played have previously played doubles together.
"We send each other messages in good moments, bad moments," he said last year.
"It's a tough sport to play when you're a young guy. You're on the road, you're playing such a relentlessly intense sport, both physically, emotionally, and it's difficult, we haven't got many friends. So to sort of have the support of someone who's going through it themselves is really big."