3 days ago
The touching family story powering Jack Draper through French Open
The first factoid people usually quote about Jack Draper is that his father Roger used to be the chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association.
But Roger was absent from the player box on Tuesday for Draper's maiden victory at the French Open. Instead, the seats were occupied by Jack's brother Ben, his mother Nicky and his grandfather Chris Entract.
There is another family narrative here, running alongside the LTA one, and it relates to the awful illness that has robbed Chris's wife Brenda of her memory.
The trauma of her condition has led Jack to become an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society. In December, he organised a 'memory walk' along the banks of the Thames in her honour.
It was Brenda who shaped the whole family's love affair with tennis. As a coach in the Dorset town of Dorchester, she helped train up her children – Nicky and Jonathan – to become outstanding juniors. Then she moved on to the next generation. As Jack has explained: 'My nan and grandpa used to take me to lots of tournaments. They were a huge part of my development, always supportive.'
But then, despite her healthy and athletic lifestyle, Brenda began to become forgetful. The decline grew steeper until she couldn't recognise her own grandchildren.
'It started around 11 years ago,' Draper has said. 'It was hard to understand that as a 13-year-old. I didn't really get the severity of it.
'There's many stages to Alzheimer's. At first, you're not thinking properly, and you lose your memory. Then the worst stage is when you're physically capable, but you're angry.
'There's many different stages that I've watched her go through, like not wanting to get in the shower. And then it's like, 'How do you get this strong woman into the shower every day?' It's impossible. And so carers like my grandad, he's an absolute hero to keep on doing what he's doing, just putting one foot in front of the other.'
'I want to honour all the carers'
Draper takes his role with the Alzheimer's Society very seriously. Indeed, he credits it with boosting his motivation on the court. As he said on the memory walk: 'It's such an important cause because it's about honouring my grandad, honouring all the carers, the people who are stuck in this situation.
'As a tennis player, it's an individual sport, and we always focus on ourselves. So it's important for me, especially as my career progresses, to have a purpose outside of my tennis as well.
'I just feel like I'm doing something apart from hitting a decent tennis ball. I have other things I'm trying to support and other things I'm trying to raise awareness for.'
Sadly, Brenda is now effectively a blank slate. Alzheimer's has robbed her of any agency, so that – in Jack's words – 'she's not in any pain, she's pretty content, but she just sits there needing to be fed, doesn't know anything'.
For Chris to come to Paris this week, the family have had to find other carers to take over the job. 'He is having a little bit of a holiday,' Jack said this week. 'Hopefully, he will stay out. It gives him so much excitement. It is nice for me to have him here, inspiring for sure.
'He's always on the live ranking, watching my tennis. He's obsessed with it. He knows everything that is going on around the world, on the tours, and he knows what all the Brits are up to. He just loves tennis. So to have him here is a massive, massive thing for me.'
On Tuesday, Chris and the rest of the Draper clan were able to enjoy Jack's first-round match, which delivered an increasingly impressive four-set win over his junior contemporary Mattia Bellucci. That was on the lovely Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the second-string arena at Roland Garros.
Next up for Draper – who is now guaranteed to climb to No 4 in the world when the next set of rankings are published in 10 days' time – will be a debut on the main stage: Court Philippe-Chatrier. He has been scheduled to play Thursday's night-session match against home favourite Gael Monfils: a contest which could easily turn into one of the rowdiest and most partisan occasions of the week.
As for Roger Draper, he might be popping in later in the tournament, but for now, he is busy playing a veterans' clay-court event in Bournemouth. Although he and Nicky are no longer married, tennis remains essential to the lives of both Drapers and Entracts.
