As the new plaque of his footprint on Court Philippe Chatrier demonstrates, Rafael Nadal’s legacy at Roland Garros is eternal. His inspiration can be traced through the next generation – including our very own Jack Draper and his brutal forehand.
The similarities in the two men’s strokes are impossible to miss. The coiling of musclebound shoulders. The whiplash swing of a left arm, sending the ball fizzing through the air to land, grip on the clay then spit towards the opponent at head height.
Draper has until now been hesitant to embrace the comparison. ‘It’s hard for me to look at my own forehand,’ said the 23-year-old, who faces Alexander Bublik today in his first visit to the fourth round of the French Open.
‘I can appreciate it’s getting better and better but I still watch Rafa and… his forehand’s a joke. But I definitely understand the comparison of how it’s kicking up and the spin and the speed of it.’
Like Nadal, Draper uses the height and spin of his forehand to push opponents back, leaving them vulnerable to the drop shot – a one-two punch which was incredibly effective in his third-round victory over Joao Fonseca.
Draper’s forehand lacks the curl of Nadal’s, meaning it is harder for him to replicate the classic Rafa pattern of swinging the ball away from the right-hander’s backhand.
The similarities between Jack Draper and Rafael Nadal’s forehands are impossible to miss
Nadal’s legacy is eternal and his inspiration can be traced through the next generation
Just like Nadal, Draper uses the height and spin of his forehand to push opponents back
That lack of swing is not all downside, though – as Nadal’s forehand angled away from the backhand side, it angled into the forehand side, making it easier for opponents to cover that space. Draper can fire a more direct arrow down the line.
As a fellow right-hander who plays leftie, Nadal was a touchstone for young Draper. When I visited his first tennis club in Sutton last year, members told stories of young Jack playing in sleeveless tops to look more like Rafa.
‘I modelled myself on his game but more so his competitive nature, his doggedness,’ said Draper. ‘I loved Rafa – the grunt, everything. He massively inspired me to become the player I am and hopefully I can get to his level.’
If Draper has internalised Nadal’s Stakhanovite work ethic, the same cannot be said of his next opponent, who puts his recent uptick in form down to a three-day bender in Las Vegas.
Bublik is one of the great talkers in the game, so let’s allow him the floor to explain how he went from a career high to a career low, then recovered.
‘After Wimbledon 2024, I got to No 17 in the world,’ he began. ‘Then I’m like, “OK, I have to practise harder”. Work on my diet, stop drinking, stop partying.
‘Be a more professional soldier. Right now everybody is like robots, crazy, crazy performance guys. My fall was not linked with lack of attitude and lack of practising. It was the exact opposite. I just burned out.
‘Then it was the other way around. I was No 80 in the world. My coach suggested a trip to Vegas in between Indian Wells and Phoenix.
As a fellow right-hander who plays leftie, Nadal was a touchstone for Draper in his youth
Alexander Bublik has put his upturn in form down to a three-day bender in Las Vegas
‘I said, OK, let’s go to Vegas, and it worked.’
To clarify, was this a training trip to Vegas? ‘No, Vegas Vegas, like The Hangover Vegas,’ said Bublik, referencing the 2009 stag-party-gone-wrong comedy film.
The 27-year-old went straight from Nevada to Phoenix, Arizona, for a lower-tier Challenger event. He made the final, and then won his next Challenger in Turin.
‘I came there to win,’ said Bublik. ‘I have to take matches more seriously, and I did. It’s as simple as that. There was a shift in the mentality because I had no options whatsoever.’
On his last-16 opponent, Bublik said: ‘Jack, for me, is insane. I saw him here and I said, “Are you getting ready for UFC?”
‘Last year the guy is No 40 in the world. This year he is top five. That’s a crazy achievement. He doesn’t seem to stop.
‘What do I have to do to beat him? I don’t know. I will just go there, enjoy the time – we all know what I’m capable of doing on court.’
The Kazakhstani is capable of almost anything. If his array of tweeners, underarm serves and general zaniness gives the impression of a man messing around, Bublik insists he is just maximising his chances of victory against the ‘robots’.
Bublik is one of the great talkers in the game of tennis and he has recovered from a career low
If Draper has internalised Nadal’s Stakhanovite work ethic, the same cannot be said of Bublik
‘I’m not a fighting person,’ said Bublik. ‘To win against the best of the best, I have to find ways to outplay them because they will outwork me, outrun me.
‘Against Jack, I’m not capable physically of running for five hours. I would die, literally. I’m worrying about my health over tennis. So I find a way to beat these guys with what I have – and I have a lot, in terms of an arsenal of shots. Sometimes I have to go for what seem like crazy shots, but this is the only option I have.’
If Draper needs reminding of how dangerous the world No 62 can be, he could ask Alex de Minaur. The No 9 seed took a two-set lead over Bublik in the second round before being blown away in 90 minutes of lights-out shotmaking.
Draper has tuned up nicely for this test, riding out similar purple patches from Mattia Bellucci and Gael Monfils in the first and second rounds.
‘I don’t need to play my best to win matches because my base level is high,’ said Draper. ‘If I play point by point at that level, it’s tough for guys to beat me.
‘Especially if they’re up and down, like Monfils or Bublik. They’re gonna play some great tennis and they could beat me for sure, but I know it’s going to be very tough (for them) because I’m always going to be at that level.’
Sentiments of which Rafa would be proud.
