Jack Draper: ‘I contemplated what my life would be if I didn’t have tennis’ | Tennis

OFor the past few years, at the start of each new tennis season, the ATP Tour has tasked some of its top players with predicting the coming year. It’s a bit of fun, a clever way to generate conversation and engagement, but it can also be revealing. This year on the subject of who will win their first title, Andrei Rublev was categorical: “I’m going with [Jack] Draper again until he succeeds. I went with him last year, so I’m going with him again,” he said.

Chatting casually from a quiet corner of the Foro Italico ahead of his appearance at the Italian Open this week, Draper smiles at the mention of his biggest fan: “He seems to have a lot of faith in me,” he says. “I’ve played with him a few times. We had some pretty tough fights. Like people say, he’s unbelievably good and what a player, man.”

In this case, however, Rublev’s faith in Draper has less to do with his pleasant personality and more to do with the consensus on tour: that the 22-year-old has everything he needs in his game to be a top player . Not only does he possess a wicked left serve and the ability to dominate opponents from the ground, but his weapons are complemented by a well-rounded skill set with a consistent return, solid movement and growing comfort in the forecourt. The question remains whether he can take the next step in his career and become a top player.

This week in Rome, Draper made an important decision in service of that goal. Along with his coach, James Trotman, Draper tried out a potential second coach, Wayne Ferreira, a former top-10 player and respected coach who enjoyed a highly successful stint with Francis Tiafoe.

“He seems to really believe in my tennis and he believes that I’m really only at 50%-60% of my capacity as a player and there’s so much improvement to be made,” Draper says. “Which my coach and I know anyway, but sometimes it’s nice to have a different opinion and someone who really knows tennis to come in and dissect and look at things in a different way.”

As inexperienced as he is, Draper is still at the highest level of the sport, his career already has significant mileage. Son of former LTA chief executive Roger Draper, he had a prolific junior career which culminated in his loss in the 2018 Junior Wimbledon final. Just as he was trying to make the transition to the professional circuit, a defining moment of his young career came during the lockout in 2020 at 18 years old. During the break, Draper became slightly intimidated by the task ahead and considered retiring from the sport.

“When you’re younger, you think tennis is like that [only] amazing things: Wimbledon, all that stuff,” he explains. “Then you get out of the juniors and go and experience the pro tour, and that’s not like that at all. You should dive into these futures. Nobody’s watching. Nobody cares about you. You have to beat very, very good players right from the start. No points. It just looks like you’re at the foot of the mountain and you have this mindset that you’re looking at Mount Everest. It all seems a bit overwhelming and seems a bit too much. And I guess at that stage I was like, “I’m not sure if I have the ability to really handle this.” But I guess everybody has those stages. They just have to keep going.”

Almost every time Draper has been healthy enough to showcase his talent, it’s been undeniable. at 19, he took a set from Novak Djokovic in the first round at Wimbledon in 2021. He then broke through the contender circuit in 2022, winning four events in the first four months of 2022 and reaching the top 100. By early 2023, Draper had broken into the top 40.

But his body has so often refused to cooperate. A myriad of injuries – shoulder, back, hip, ankle – sidelined him for significant periods of his young career. Just weeks after the landmark ranking last January, Draper is once again considering his future in the sport. He thought about what it would be like to retire from the tour and go to university.

“I had this chronic hip and I thought about stopping again. “Am I really going to be able to do this?” I really thought about what my life would be like if I didn’t have tennis, to be honest. From that moment I really realized what I wanted again and realized that it was something I was capable of achieving.

It’s only been in the past six months that Draper has truly begun to believe that being a top player is a clear and achievable goal, a consequence of the work that has gone into ensuring that his body is strong enough to withstand the demands of professional tennis . The first four months of this season are the first time he’s actually been “on” the tour, traveling and racing most weeks instead of dipping in and out.

“I worked really hard to get my body in a good place,” he says. “I think even though the results are decent, the big result is my body, how I can keep playing every week and not break down. Knock on wood. I think that’s the most important thing and I keep giving myself a chance, I’m just going to grow more and more in confidence.”

It would be reasonable to assume that once he can play more regularly, he will soar up the rankings. But tennis is much more complicated than that. Unseeded in major events and at risk of facing top 20 players early on, he has beaten most lower-ranked opponents while suffering many tough three-set losses against quality players. It was impressive to see him maintain perspective and a positive outlook despite numerous disappointing defeats. It’s essential for Draper to keep his head down and look at the bigger picture with the understanding that if he keeps working hard, he’ll eventually reach the level he knows he’s capable of.

“You might not see the results right away, but if you’re somehow improving every day, even on tour, then you’re going to get better and achieve big results,” he says. “And people will say it’s an overnight success, I’m sure, when I have a big score. But it’s not really like that. I have been working for so many years and will continue to do so.”