“He's probably up there”: Jessica Pegula tips mixed doubles partner Jack Draper to challenge Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz

America’s Jessica Pegula believes Jack Draper is one of the candidates to get the better of Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the future. Men’s tennis has been dominated by Sinner and Alcaraz, especially since the start of 2024. Since that that, Sinner and Alcaraz have shared all seven Grand Slams.

Britain’s Draper at times managed to push some of the best in the world, but has failed to maintain consistency. Draper has also had a difficult time with fitness concerns. In the ongoing US Open, Draper was forced to withdraw just before the start of the second-round contest against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs because of an arm injury.

Because of the similar injury, Draper did not feature in any competition after Wimbledon and only returned to the court to feature in the US Open mixed doubles event, where his partner was America’s Pegula. The two had an impressive time on the court in the revamped version of the mixed doubles event at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, as they won two matches in straight sets.

Draper and Pegula’s mixed doubles journey ended in the semifinals, where they lost to the pair of Norway’s Casper Ruud and Poland’s Iga Swiatek with a score of 3-5, 5-3, 10-8. Pegula recently spoke to Sky Sports, where she praised Draper and called him ‘super talented’. Pegula stated that Draper has the quality to outdo players like Sinner and Alcaraz in the future and expressed optimism that the British number one will return to the court stronger and sooner.

“Unfortunately, obviously he [Draper] had to pull out,” said Pegula. “So I hope he can get healthy. Obviously, super talented. And I feel like he's probably up there with someone that can take out, you know, a Sinner or Alcarez. But you got to stay healthy. So I'm just hoping he kind of, he gets healthy and comes back strong.”

Talking about the overall journey of sharing during the mixed doubles event, Pegula stated that both she and Draper get along very well, largely because both shared ‘dry’ humour. Pegula also stated that from a distance, both she and Draper looked serious, but in reality, it was much more fun sharing the court with the 2024 US Open semifinalist. Pegula also expressed optimism about playing with Draper once again in the near future.

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun [sharing court with Draper],” said Pegula. “You know, we didn't really know each other at all, but we got along really well. He's very dry, British humor, but I'm also very dry. So I think that's, I don't know why, I think that's why we got along very quickly within the span of a couple days. And it was really fun getting to know him and his team. And I said, I was like, I'm team Draper now, I'm behind you. So it's been really fun. I think we really enjoyed your press conferences when you were in exhibition with Jack. It's not an exhibition. I felt like I was in an episode of The Office. I don't know if you guys watch that show in the UK.”

She continued by saying: “I know, honestly, everyone kept saying like, oh, we look so serious, blah, blah, blah, because we're always like whispering. But it wasn't that serious. It was like constant banter, basically, the whole time. It wasn't as serious as it looked, which was kind of funny because everyone kept saying, we were like, oh, we were taking it so like serious and, you know, down to business. It really wasn't that. Yeah, I hope so [that we play together]. I mean, I think they mentioned something. I was like, yeah, sure, I'm down to play whenever. You know, I'll never say no to like a lefty serve either. Like in dubs, it makes life a lot easier. So I'm like, hey, yeah, whenever you want to play.”