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The Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Humble Wimbledon star Jack Draper still drives seven-year-old VW Polo despite earning millions in prize money
JACK DRAPER still drives the same old Polo car to training because he does not see the point of having a flashier vehicle in London, according to his pal Jack Pinnington Jones. Jones's Wimbledon dreams were fuelled as a teenager during early-morning car journeys with Draper listening to UK rap on the stereo. 5 5 5 The 22-year-old – who lost to Italian Flavio Cobolli in round two today – recently turned professional, having quit his studies at Texas Christian University. The Surrey star, who has earned so far £99,000 in prize money, had long dreamt of this position, particularly on those sunrise motor trips with Draper. They would travel together to Roehampton's National Tennis Centre before dawn in the winter months and before the school rush, put on the tunes and talk rubbish. The funny thing is that Draper, who has pocked career earnings of £5.9million, still drives around in the same Polo car and refuses to trade up for a bigger, better and more expensive model. Jones, the world No.281, said: 'I'd probably practise at maybe 10-11am. We'd be driving through Cobham (in Surrey). 'The traffic is just a nightmare if you go any later with the school run. 'So, Jack would say: 'Right, I'm going to be there at 6.30am. You're either there or you're not.' I'd be half asleep every time. 'It'd take 20 minutes on the roads because no-one else is awake. You'll have to wait till 8am for breakfast. It's just us sitting there at the NTC. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 5 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 'Music-wise, it'd be UK rap at the beginning of the week. If it's the end of the week, something probably more chilled. 'I was about 15 or 16. I didn't have a licence. Jack has the same car now. This little Polo. 'He treats it awfully. He's like: 'I don't need a nice car in London, I'm going to ding it anyway.' 'It's the same car he got when he first passed. He loves it. He has some boxing gloves in the wing mirror.' The two Jacks are very close pals and Draper reckons Jones has the makings one day of becoming a top-100 player. The decision to leave college, forego his degree and go pro was 'a big decision' and tennis is 'obviously now a job'. British No.11 Jones, who hails from Kingston, plays golf to a reasonable level and was hitting balls at Andy Murray 's club the other day. He is probably one of the guys that took the mickey out of Draper for his attempts at shaving off his stubble before his first-round win over Sebastian Baez. Indeed, Draper – who now plays former US Open champion Marin Cilic this afternoon – is hoping the only close shaves this Wimbledon fortnight will be on his legs. And Britain's tennis hero has told fans to expect plenty of different hairstyles throughout his career – because it is a chance for him to experiment and rebel. Draper, 23, said: 'Yeah, I shave my legs. I mean a lot of athletes do. 'It's because of the (resistance) band work we do between our legs. 'I'm fed up of ingrown hairs and getting slapped with the bands – it sort of hurts a lot. So, I get rid of the hairs. 'When I put the bands around my leg, it pulls on your hair and it rips them off. And it's the same with the massages as well. 'I mean it's not ideal but if I'm going to be in less pain, then it's worth it.' Draper had blonde highlights done in his hair pre-tournament but will not be visiting the barbers until the event is over. The British No.1 said: 'One thing you will see with me over the years is a lot of different hairstyles. A lot of different things. 'Because I'm very experimental with that sort of stuff. Do I get bored? Yeah. 'There will be a lot of different things. My brother doesn't like it but there will be a lot.' 5
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Inside Jack Draper's bromance with fellow Brit Jack Pinnington Jones: Arguments over pick-up times, car DJing, pre-match texts and treatment room debriefs
One Jack dictated the pick-up time, the other decided the pick-me-up tunes. As the more senior of the Surrey teenagers and the only one with a licence, Jack Draper would do the driving to the National Tennis Centre in his second-hand Volkswagen Polo. But while Jack Pinnington Jones was grateful for the lift, he was less pleased with the early morning collection. 'Where he picked me up in Cobham, the traffic is a nightmare with the school run,' recalls 22-year-old Pinnington Jones, who is 15 months younger than Draper. 'So he would say, 'Right I'm going to be there at 6.30am, you're either there or you're not'. I'd be half asleep every time. 'It would only take us 20 minutes to get there because no one else was awake, so we'd be there at 7am. There was no breakfast until 8am, so it would just be us sitting there at the NTC.' Draper, however, remains unapologetic about those early starts. 'It was like, 'Would you rather go 45 minutes earlier or would you rather sit in traffic for two hours?',' says the British No1. 'We always argued about it because he'd be hitting at 11am and I'd be hitting at 9.30am. But he loved coming with me. We'd have a laugh.' For Pinnington Jones, the joy of those journeys came from being in charge of the auxiliary cable connecting his phone to Draper's car audio system. 'Unless he was excited to show me a new song he'd found, I'd get the aux,' says the world No281. 'At the beginning of the week, it would be UK rap. At the end of the week, it would be something more chill. 'It's the same car he has now, this little Polo. He treats it awfully. He's like, 'I don't need a nice car in London, I'm going to ding it anyway'. He has some boxing gloves in the mirror. He loves it.' Now, six years on from carsharing to Roehampton, Draper and Pinnington Jones are sharing the limelight at nearby Wimbledon. The friends have been separated in recent years, with Pinnington Jones moving to the States to attend Texas Christian University. But their bromance has been allowed to blossom again after Pinnington Jones quit college a month ago to return home and turn professional, then was handed a wildcard for Wimbledon. On Tuesday, he made the most of his opportunity at SW19, upsetting world No53 Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets on his Grand Slam debut. And waiting to greet him in the treatment room after his breakthrough victory was Draper, who had also just come through his first-round tie. 'I saw him after the match and he came up and congratulated me,' says Pinnington Jones, who faces Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli in the second round on Thursday. 'He also sent me a text just before I went on saying, 'You're ready for this, go and embrace it'. 'It just means a lot that he's there supporting me. He's one of my best friends. Maybe one day I can get up to, maybe not where he is, but where we are playing the same tournaments.' For his part, Draper is of no doubt that his close pal will soon be joining him at the top table of tennis. 'He's immensely talented,' adds the fourth seed, who meets 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic on Thursday. 'I think he is going to be a top 100 player pretty soon. I think the British public have someone else to be really excited about.'
North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Emma Raducanu sails through ‘awkward' battle of Britain in Wimbledon opener
It is four years since Raducanu launched her rocket to stardom by reaching the last 16 of Wimbledon as an 18-year-old. Xu is only 17, and she will surely have many more chances to write her own success story at SW19, but she was unable to really test the British number one's nerve, with Raducanu easing to a 6-3 6-3 victory. 🔛🔝 Emma Raducanu completes a hard-fought 6-3, 6-3 victory against Mimi Xu to move into the second round of #Wimbledon — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2025 Raducanu and Xu are friendly having hit together at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November, while Raducanu practises her Mandarin by speaking to Xu's mother. Shared heritage or not, this was a contest Raducanu wanted to stamp her authority on quickly, and she was particularly vocal, her shouts of 'Come on' punctuating the contest. 'When the draw came out, I can't say I was loving it,' said Raducanu with a smile in her on-court interview. In the press room later she added: 'First rounds are never easy. It was an interesting dynamic today, so I'm really pleased to have got through that. 'It's really awkward playing a Brit, especially someone younger. She's a great player with big weapons. Congrats for her to get the wild card opportunity. I'm sure she's going to do great things in the future. I think that I just really wanted to win that match.' It has not been an easy build-up for the 22-year-old, who has been dealing with some bad personal news as well as a niggling back problem. She smiled and waved as she entered Court One to cheers, though, while Xu had her ears covered by large headphones. The Swansea schoolgirl made a nervous start and Raducanu immediately broke serve but holding a long third game settled Xu down and she began to show why she is considered such a good prospect. Xu sent down serves close to 120mph and troubled Raducanu on occasion with her powerful ground strokes but a missed second serve return at 4-3 30-30 showed her inexperience, and the first set disappeared in a slew of errors. While Xu left the court to change, Raducanu showed she is not above a bit of mid-match litter picking, collecting a champagne cork that had flown from the stands on to the court with a chuckle and putting it in a bin. 'It was a first,' said Raducanu. 'Pretty entertaining. I'm glad they were having a good time. It loosened me up a bit at the end of the first set. I can't not laugh at that.' Xu's best moments came early in the second set when she twice broke the Raducanu serve, earning her reward for staying on the front foot and going for the lines. She could not hold her own delivery, though, and Raducanu clinched her first match point after an hour and 25 minutes to maintain her record of never having lost in the first round. Xu relished the experience, saying: 'It's such an honour to play against her on my debut. She's such a hard worker because I train with her at the NTC (National Tennis Centre). 'Honestly, I don't think I would have wanted it any different. I've learned so much from this match, from playing her, how she deals with these moments and what the differences were there against a top player. I think I can do a lot of things in my game to improve it further.' Raducanu's path gets significantly tougher from here with in-form former champion Marketa Vondrousova up next on Wednesday.
Rhyl Journal
4 days ago
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Emma Raducanu sails through ‘awkward' battle of Britain in Wimbledon opener
It is four years since Raducanu launched her rocket to stardom by reaching the last 16 of Wimbledon as an 18-year-old. Xu is only 17, and she will surely have many more chances to write her own success story at SW19, but she was unable to really test the British number one's nerve, with Raducanu easing to a 6-3 6-3 victory. 🔛🔝 Emma Raducanu completes a hard-fought 6-3, 6-3 victory against Mimi Xu to move into the second round of #Wimbledon — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2025 Raducanu and Xu are friendly having hit together at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November, while Raducanu practises her Mandarin by speaking to Xu's mother. Shared heritage or not, this was a contest Raducanu wanted to stamp her authority on quickly, and she was particularly vocal, her shouts of 'Come on' punctuating the contest. 'When the draw came out, I can't say I was loving it,' said Raducanu with a smile in her on-court interview. In the press room later she added: 'First rounds are never easy. It was an interesting dynamic today, so I'm really pleased to have got through that. 'It's really awkward playing a Brit, especially someone younger. She's a great player with big weapons. Congrats for her to get the wild card opportunity. I'm sure she's going to do great things in the future. I think that I just really wanted to win that match.' It has not been an easy build-up for the 22-year-old, who has been dealing with some bad personal news as well as a niggling back problem. She smiled and waved as she entered Court One to cheers, though, while Xu had her ears covered by large headphones. The Swansea schoolgirl made a nervous start and Raducanu immediately broke serve but holding a long third game settled Xu down and she began to show why she is considered such a good prospect. Xu sent down serves close to 120mph and troubled Raducanu on occasion with her powerful ground strokes but a missed second serve return at 4-3 30-30 showed her inexperience, and the first set disappeared in a slew of errors. While Xu left the court to change, Raducanu showed she is not above a bit of mid-match litter picking, collecting a champagne cork that had flown from the stands on to the court with a chuckle and putting it in a bin. 'It was a first,' said Raducanu. 'Pretty entertaining. I'm glad they were having a good time. It loosened me up a bit at the end of the first set. I can't not laugh at that.' Xu's best moments came early in the second set when she twice broke the Raducanu serve, earning her reward for staying on the front foot and going for the lines. She could not hold her own delivery, though, and Raducanu clinched her first match point after an hour and 25 minutes to maintain her record of never having lost in the first round. Xu relished the experience, saying: 'It's such an honour to play against her on my debut. She's such a hard worker because I train with her at the NTC (National Tennis Centre). 'Honestly, I don't think I would have wanted it any different. I've learned so much from this match, from playing her, how she deals with these moments and what the differences were there against a top player. I think I can do a lot of things in my game to improve it further.' Raducanu's path gets significantly tougher from here with in-form former champion Marketa Vondrousova up next on Wednesday.
South Wales Guardian
4 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Emma Raducanu sails through ‘awkward' battle of Britain in Wimbledon opener
It is four years since Raducanu launched her rocket to stardom by reaching the last 16 of Wimbledon as an 18-year-old. Xu is only 17, and she will surely have many more chances to write her own success story at SW19, but she was unable to really test the British number one's nerve, with Raducanu easing to a 6-3 6-3 victory. 🔛🔝 Emma Raducanu completes a hard-fought 6-3, 6-3 victory against Mimi Xu to move into the second round of #Wimbledon — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2025 Raducanu and Xu are friendly having hit together at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November, while Raducanu practises her Mandarin by speaking to Xu's mother. Shared heritage or not, this was a contest Raducanu wanted to stamp her authority on quickly, and she was particularly vocal, her shouts of 'Come on' punctuating the contest. 'When the draw came out, I can't say I was loving it,' said Raducanu with a smile in her on-court interview. In the press room later she added: 'First rounds are never easy. It was an interesting dynamic today, so I'm really pleased to have got through that. 'It's really awkward playing a Brit, especially someone younger. She's a great player with big weapons. Congrats for her to get the wild card opportunity. I'm sure she's going to do great things in the future. I think that I just really wanted to win that match.' It has not been an easy build-up for the 22-year-old, who has been dealing with some bad personal news as well as a niggling back problem. She smiled and waved as she entered Court One to cheers, though, while Xu had her ears covered by large headphones. The Swansea schoolgirl made a nervous start and Raducanu immediately broke serve but holding a long third game settled Xu down and she began to show why she is considered such a good prospect. Xu sent down serves close to 120mph and troubled Raducanu on occasion with her powerful ground strokes but a missed second serve return at 4-3 30-30 showed her inexperience, and the first set disappeared in a slew of errors. While Xu left the court to change, Raducanu showed she is not above a bit of mid-match litter picking, collecting a champagne cork that had flown from the stands on to the court with a chuckle and putting it in a bin. 'It was a first,' said Raducanu. 'Pretty entertaining. I'm glad they were having a good time. It loosened me up a bit at the end of the first set. I can't not laugh at that.' Xu's best moments came early in the second set when she twice broke the Raducanu serve, earning her reward for staying on the front foot and going for the lines. She could not hold her own delivery, though, and Raducanu clinched her first match point after an hour and 25 minutes to maintain her record of never having lost in the first round. Xu relished the experience, saying: 'It's such an honour to play against her on my debut. She's such a hard worker because I train with her at the NTC (National Tennis Centre). 'Honestly, I don't think I would have wanted it any different. I've learned so much from this match, from playing her, how she deals with these moments and what the differences were there against a top player. I think I can do a lot of things in my game to improve it further.' Raducanu's path gets significantly tougher from here with in-form former champion Marketa Vondrousova up next on Wednesday.
