Emotional Jack Draper praised his 80-year-old grandfather after triumph over Alcaraz

Jack Draper (No. 31) defeated Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2) under the watchful eyes of his family, including his 80-year-old grandfather. The 22-year-old tennis player maintains a streak of 7 consecutive wins on grass following his title at the Stuttgart Open last week, continuing his high-level performance at the Queen’s Club Championships.

The young Brit had an emotional moment post-match when he responded to the on-court interview and mentioned that his family and school friends were in the stands: “I’ve got my grandad here in the under armor. He just turned 80, he’s doing well,” he said. “My mom, my whole team, my school friends,” he added.

The new No. 1 British player continues his great moment on the Tour. He reached the quarterfinals at Queen’s and is the leader in wins during this grass-swing with a streak of 7 consecutive victories, positioning him as world No. 28 in the live ranking, his best historical position.

In the match against Alcaraz, the defending champion, he ended the Spaniard’s streak of 13 consecutive wins on grass, maintained since last year with titles at Queen’s and Wimbledon. The victory was in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-3, marking the best win of his career.

In the post-match press conference, Draper expressed his excitement about the victory, especially achieving it at home in front of his family and close friends: “Yeah, it feels incredible," he smiled. "My friends from my old school, I got them tickets a couple of times seeing me play. They're at uni doing their own thing. It's just amazing for them to watch obviously me play on such a big court in front of a lot of people.

"Then I have my whole team, my family, my granddad here, he's just turned 80, his wife Brenda. My nan, she sort of introduced us to tennis. But unfortunately, she's had dementia for the last 12 years, and he's been looking after her. So I have done some stuff actually with the Alzheimer's charity.

"Yeah, even though she doesn't understand what's going on, it's amazing for him to be here, be a part of tennis, be a part of my success," Draper said about his grandparent. “Yeah, he lives and breathes it. He's always on the live rankings, Resultina, all that stuff. Like, what's this person doing, you know, in the 15K, and wherever it is in the world? I say, I don't know. Just give me a day off tennis, Mate," the world No. 31 laughed.

"But, no, I'm incredibly lucky to have such amazing people support me on a daily basis. That's kind of what brings the glue together as a tennis player, because it's such an individual sport and it's so relentless and tiring and there are a lot of things that go into it. Very lucky to have such amazing people."

"Tennis comes from my Nana. She was a tennis coach to me and my brother Ben when she was younger. She was always our biggest fan along with my grandad," he said.