"Wrote my name down, No one wanted to hit with me": One difference for Jack Draper from World No.340 to top five

Britain’s Jack Draper has opened up about how difficult it is to survive in the top half of the ATP rankings. The 23-year-old is now regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category.

This season, Draper has produced some incredible performances on the court. The London-born star won his maiden ATP 1000 event at Indian Wells after beating Denmark’s Holger Rune in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2. He then finished as the runner-up at the Madrid Open, where he suffered a defeat in the final to Norway’s Casper Ruud with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Draper’s most recent outing was at the Rome Open, where his journey ended at the quarterfinals stage as he lost to world number three Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. Those performances have pushed the 2024 US Open semifinalist to as high as fifth in the ATP rankings. Draper spoke to Sky Sports, and he shared how difficult it is to survive amongst the best players in the world. He was of the opinion that people believe it becomes easy once you cement a spot in the top five, which is completely opposite to how it is.

“I suppose people think that once you get to that point you can relax,” he said. “That’s the total opposite. Obviously, you feel more expectation and stuff, and you’ve just got to keep moving forward. Keep putting in more hard work to get to that next stage, which will hopefully be even more up the rankings. I suppose they put you in nicer hotels. I definitely feel like there’s a few more crowds to watch me practise, my matches. That’s one thing that I play for: to be an entertainer and play in front of lots of people. It’s something that I’ve always wanted. I’ve always loved competition, the atmosphere around that.”

He also opened up on how it is to go from being not wanted to being the main name for practice. He gave an anecdote that no-one wanted to practice with him during the early days.

‘You get to know the top players a bit more because obviously there’s a different changing room for that kind of thing. 

‘When I first came onto the tour I remember being 340 in the world and I got a wild card into the Miami Open. I wrote my name down for practice and no one wanted to hit with me; they were all just crossing out my name and putting someone else’s.

‘As you play more, as you win more matches and get to know the players you get to know that we’re all the same and we’re all sacrificing our lives trying to do the right thing in tennis, go after our goals. That gains respect. That ultimately leads to more respect.’