Jack Draper in 2024: The Emergence of a new British Tennis Star.
31/10/2024 11:35:11
Jack Draper has vowed to compete with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2025. The ever improving 22-year-old made the optimistic claim after winning the biggest title of his young career in Vienna in October. The British No 1 became the fourth British player to win in Vienna, following in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and his tennis idol Andy Murray. The win, his second ATP Tour title, and first at 500 level, also saw the big left hander move into the top 15 of the ATP rankings, a major jump from 123rd in the rankings Draper found himself positioned in during September 2023.
But how has the young man from Surrey put himself in a position to have such lofty ambitions for 2025. Below we look at the last 12 months of Draper’s career, 12 months that has seen the emergence of a new British tennis star.
The Emergence of Draper
Draper only made his Australian Open and French Open debuts in 2023, but by October of last year he had reached his maiden ATP Tour Final, at the 250 event in Sofia. He would lose the final to wily French player Adrien Mannarino, but by reaching the decider in Bulgaria he had become the youngest Briton to reach an ATP Tour Final since Andy Murray back in 2009.
Draper’s 2024 to Remember
Draper picked up where he had finished 2023 in early 2024 by reaching another ATP 250 Final, this time in one of the warmup events for the 2024 Australian Open, the Adelaide International. In the tournament he defeated three Top 40 players en-route to the Final, before losing again, this time to Czech player Jiri Lehecka. He only reached the 2nd Round of the Australian Open but bounced back to form by reaching the semi-final of an ATP 500 event for the first time in Acapulco, retiring in his semi-final against Alex De Minaur.
Draper was beaten in the 1st Round at Roland Garros but in June he again bounced back from Grand Slam disappointment to reach a third ATP Tour Final, this time on the grass courts in Stuttgart. It was to be third time lucky for the Briton as he defeated former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berettini to claim his maiden Tour title. The win also saw Draper become British men’s No 1 by climbing to a then career high of 31 in the rankings.
At the next tournament, the 2024 Queens Club tournament in London, Draper faced Carlos Alcaraz in the second round and beat the defending Wimbledon champion in straight sets. A defeat to Cameron Norrie at Wimbledon in the second round however, saw him enter the year’s final Grand Slam, the US Open with only 2 Grand Slam match wins to his name in 2024.
At Flushing Meadows, Draper defeated Zhang Zhizhen, Facundo Diaz Acosta, Botic van de Zandschulp and Thomas Machac to reach the quarter finals without dropping a set. In the quarters he faced 10th seed Alex Di Minaur and beat him to reach his first ever Grand Slam Semi-Final against World No 1 Jannik Sinner. Sinner defeated Draper in straight sets with the Briton vomiting on court three times during the match as his physical issues came to the fore once again.
After some time away due to injury Draper returned to action in Vienna where he reached his fourth ATP tour Final, facing off against World No 24 Karen Khachanov. The British No 1 overcame Khachanov to claim his 2nd Tour title and first ATP 500 Championship. The win brought Draper to new heights in professional tennis as he reached world No 15.
"The British No 1 became the fourth British player to win in Vienna, following in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and his tennis idol Andy Murray."
Where Can Draper Improve
If his ambitions to become a challenger to the new big 2 of men’s tennis, Alcaraz and Sinner is to become a realistic one, Draper knows there are areas of his talented game that he needs to improve even further. His serve is a serious weapon for the British No 1, but he needs to keep improving the consistency of it so that it can be relied upon in big matches against the absolute best players.
His groundstrokes will also need to become much more consistent to be able to compete with Alcaraz or Sinner. The fitness issues that have held him back at times will need to be worked on also. Having the ability to hang for hours with the top guys is something that Draper will have to develop over the coming years as will his ability to manage his stress levels which have led to vomiting issues in matches in the past.
Draper will have to continue improving his game into 2025 and beyond if he wants to challenge the top guys in the long term but if he can, who knows, maybe the British No 1 is the player to step forward from the pack to compete with Alcaraz and Sinner.
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✒️ Liam Lacey – Football and GAA Sports Expert
Liam Lacey is a sportswriter from County Laois in Ireland who specializes in delivering content on GAA, horse races, and football matters (though he does see himself as somewhat of a tennis aficionado also).
Liam has written about All Ireland Gaelic Football and Hurling Championships, Premier League, Champions League and international football, offering expert opinions and match previews and predictions. Occasionally, even getting some right!
Last Updated on 31/10/2024
