The usual procedure following a breakthrough title for a young British tennis talent is to urge caution: ‘Give them time’; ‘Let’s not get carried away’; ‘Everyone stay calm and drink tea’.
But after Jack Draper won in Indian Wells, it feels like the opposite is required: listen up Britain, you have permission to get excited.
Because this lad is the real deal. He has the game and the mindset to win Grand Slam titles but there has been surprisingly little hoopla about a 23-year-old who, from the Vogue photoshoots to the easy down-to-earth charm, has all the makings of a superstar.
We will see if that changes after Indian Wells but so far Draper has been that rarest of our indigenous species: a sportsman who is more highly regarded outside Britain than within.
Now world No 7, his rivals have known what was coming for a while. Andrey Rublev – the last man to beat Draper, in the final of Doha last month – picked him in 2023 and 2024 as the player most likely to win a first title that year. Carlos Alcaraz, who has four Grand Slam titles before turning 22, put the nerves in their Indian Wells semi-final down to worrying about Draper’s game rather than focusing on his own.
Website Tennis Abstract, the sport’s encyclopaedia, runs a ranking based on the chess ELO system. It is used by gamblers among others because it presents a better picture than the official lists and, according to ELO, Draper was the fifth-best player in the world even before Indian Wells. He now sits at No 4, below only Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz.
Jack Draper with Vogue editor Anna Wintour at London Fashion Week in September last year
If he arrives at Wimbledon this summer with a top-10 seeding and perhaps a title on the domestic lawns, then Drapermania will be endemic
This hype has not quite come home to roost yet in Britain. Part of that is down to the long shadow Andy Murray cast over Draper’s rise
This hype has not quite come home to roost yet in Britain. Part of that is down to the long shadow Andy Murray cast over Draper’s rise. And, since Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open title, she has also been a lightning rod for national attention.
But the main reason is that, for all his success, Draper has yet to cut the strawberries at Wimbledon. Taking a set off Novak Djokovic on Centre Court in 2021 was quite the debut as a teenager, but he is yet to go beyond the second round.
In fact his best run in any domestic event was a semi-final at Eastbourne in 2022. The defeat of Alcaraz at Queen’s Club last year felt like the start of something but he failed to back it up, losing to compatriot Cam Norrie in the second round at Wimbledon.
If he arrives at SW19 with a top-10 seeding and perhaps a title on the domestic lawns, then Drapermania will be endemic.
Henman Hill, Murray Mound, Draper…Dale? British men’s tennis over the last 30 years has been like a royal succession. Tim Henman retired in 2007 and a year later Murray made his first major final at the US Open; Murray called it a day in August last year and a month later Draper reached the semis in New York.
It is remarkably neat but not entirely coincidental. Murray laid deep roots in the British game and his influence can be traced in how Draper conducts himself: his flagellating approach to fitness training, his ascetic life away from tennis (in Indian Wells, Draper described his routine as ‘practising, eating, playing Monopoly Deal’).
Unfortunately he also seems to have inherited the Scot’s dicky hip and therein lies the one question mark over his readiness to compete for Grand Slams.
Tendonitis set in for Draper over the winter and disrupted his Australian Open. The result is he has played only three events this season but his win percentage of 87 is the best on tour (other than Sinner who played and won the Australian Open before being banned).
Draper at a Ralph Lauren event in London in November 2022
Victory at Indian Wells vaulted Draper up to world No 7 – but he may be even better than that
It has gone rather under the radar but he has overhauled his team since the Australian Open
Draper said in Melbourne that his hip would be an area he has to manage his entire career, so can the joint withstand the seven best-of-five matches required to win a Grand Slam?
Draper has reacted decisively to the issue. It has gone under the radar but he has overhauled his team since the Australian Open, bringing in physio Shane Annun and working with fitness trainer Matt Little.
Both men are alumni of the Murray camp so will be well versed in dealing with troublesome hips.
The upcoming clay season is intriguing and important for Draper. Last season he won only five of 12 matches on the surface and is still waiting for his first win at the French Open.
His lefty forehand is becoming increasingly reminiscent of Rafael Nadal’s, so there is no reason why Draper should not develop into an all-surface threat.
More pertinent could be how his body holds up. Clay-court combat is attritional and Murray always found the sliding troublesome to his hip. If Draper can get through the red dirt with a couple of deep runs and arrive on the grass fully fit, the British public will surely begin to go gaga.
Managing that hysteria will be a challenge in itself but Draper has risen to every one so far.
We waited 76 years after Fred Perry for another homegrown Wimbledon men’s champion. The kid from Sutton is on track to prove great British players are like London buses.
Unfortunately he also seems to have inherited Andy Murray’s dicky hip and therein lies the one question mark over his readiness to compete for Grand Slams
The kid from Sutton is on track to prove great British players are like London buses
Managing the hysteria will be a challenge in itself but Draper has risen to every one so far
Swiatek’s social media post
This week Iga Swiatek wrote a 700-word post on Instagram in response to the response to an incident in her defeat by Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells. In frustration, Swiatek slammed a ball into the ground and came very close to hitting a ball boy. She copped some flak for that and admitted remorse in her post but also protested at, having previously being labelled robotic, now facing criticism for showing emotion.
Swiatek put her more expressive demeanour on court this year down to the saga of the one-month ban she was given after failing a doping test due to contaminated melatonin.
Firstly, sympathy with the drug ban is limited when she did not take the step of running her melatonin through batch testing, which would have flagged the contamination.
Secondly, I do not think anyone is criticising Swiatek for her emotion, only her manner of expressing it. The Pole is a highly-strung character and her feverish energy is part of her brilliance. But recently it has manifested more as nervous tension.
It was also interesting to hear Swiatek say she was ‘deeply upset’ by the realisation that her chances of regaining her world No 1 spot were receding. Easy for me to say but that is not worth worrying about. The number next to a player’s name is exactly that: a number. Perhaps if she can let that dream go for now she can regain some of her equilibrium.
Iga Swiatek shockingly smashed a ball towards a ball kid in her Indian Wells semi-final defeat
The ball narrowly avoided the ball kid’s head as it bounced into the crowd, who booed Swiatek
Sinner remains on top as rivals slip-up
One winner from Indian Wells was our absent friend Jannik Sinner. With Alcaraz failing to defend his title and Alexander Zverev losing in the first round, we are trending towards the impossibility of the Italian losing his world No 1 spot.
Three Masters events remain before Sinner can return from his doping ban in Rome. Zverev – in horrible form – would have to win at least two to have a chance at top spot. Alcaraz would have to win all three and sneak in a low-tier title in between.
As Sinner’s three-month ban ticks away and he fine-tunes his game on the practice courts, his rivals are falling further into his slipstream.
Jannik Sinner looks set to stay as world No 1 despite his inactivity unless something changes
One to watch
Jenson Brooksby
In the middle of neurodiversity week it feels appropriate to mark the return to court of Brooksby, a unique talent who recently revealed that he is autistic.
Jenson Brooksby, who is autistic, demonstrated his impressive skillset at Indian Wells
Non-verbal until the age of four, he was diagnosed as a ‘severe’ case but through careful treatment and the help of his parents is now on the mild end of the spectrum.
Brooksby says his autism means he struggles to cope with emotion on the court but also allows him to achieve a high degree of focus.
Out of action for two years due to injury and a doping ban for missing three tests – Brooksby believes his condition contributed to that – the 24-year-old beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in Indian Wells and ran Draper as close as anyone.
Let’s see how one of the more unconventional and skillful players on tour fares in Miami.
