Jack Draper has long been considered the next big star of British tennis, and he has climbed up the rankings over the past two years. At the start of this year, Draper broke through to the top ten and is currently the British number one and world number five for men’s tennis. Draper’s innate talent and aggressive playing style, characterized by a strong service game, are key to his on-court success. Additionally, even though he is naturally right-handed, Draper plays left-handed, like Rafael Nadal, giving him an edge over other players.
Draper first began making his mark on the tennis world in 2021 with victories over Jannik Sinner (the current world number one) and Alexander Bublik. Following this success, Draper won his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger title in Forli in early 2022 and quickly won two more titles that year, making him the youngest Brit to win three ATP Challenger titles at twenty years old.
The real breakout year for Draper was in 2024, when he really began climbing up the rankings. He won his first ATP title at the Stuttgart Open in June and followed it up with a win at the Vienna Open in October. However, he truly showed off his skills in between winning these two titles at the US Open in September. Draper became the first Brit to reach a US Open semifinal since Andy Murray in 2012, and did so without even dropping a set in the quarterfinals. He then defeated Alex de Minaur in the semifinal and reached the final, eventually losing to Sinner in three sets.
Draper won the biggest title of his career in March of this year at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells against Holger Rune. Indian Wells is sometimes described as the “fifth slam,” as it is the most attended tournament aside from the four Grand Slam tournaments (the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open). Winning this tournament not only increased Draper’s ranking but also brought him a new wave of popularity among tennis fans.
Then, at the start of May, Draper had a fantastic run at the Madrid Open. He made it to the final of the tournament, beating out several strong players like Matteo Berrettini and Tommy Paul. By making this final, Draper was able to surpass longtime number one Novak Djokovic and break into the world’s top five.
There are still several months left in this year’s tennis season, and I, along with millions of other tennis fans, am eagerly waiting to see what else Draper has to offer.
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