In June his first ATP title and victory against Alcaraz at Queen’s.

«He is climbing the rankings quickly, he is young and has all the ingredients to succeed» says Rafael Nadal when asked about Jack Draper in 2023. If you are looking for “ATP predictions” on YouTube, you will come across a long series of videos where some of the best tennis players in the world play and make predictions about the season that awaits them. Like any self-respecting prediction, it is fun to go and watch them again after years to understand how much it was close.

At the beginning of 2021, Daniil Medvedev predicts the great season of Jannik Sinner, with whom he says he trained a lot in that period. Just over ten months later, the two played one of the best matches of the year at the ATP Finals in Turin, that of Medvedev’s yawn and the Russian’s victory in the third set tiebreak.

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The predictions of 2022, however, they were all themed Carlos Alcaraz, who won his first Grand Slam tournament at Flashing Meadows that year. Everyone likes to win easily, right? Sometimes, fortunately, there is also no shortage of wrong predictions: again at the beginning of 2022, many placed their bets on Jenson Brooskbywho made two ATP finals that year, but the comparison with the Spaniard is today merciless – the American is currently disqualified for doping until January 2025.

One thing is certain, however. Regardless of the success of the prediction, these videos give us a clear idea of ​​what the more futuristic tennis players (or at least believed to be so) of the circuit.

Jack Draper’s parable is that of a long-considered 2001 the future of British tennis, orphan of an Andy Murray now in his twilight. His compatriot spoke even sweeter words than Rafa’s Cameron Norrien.2 English: «Considering all the possible improvements, if it can maintain a good level for a long time there is no reason why it cannot reach the Top 10». Norrie himself admits in the video that he made a bold statement, and in fact both he and Nadal went very far from reality.

Draper’s 2023 is a succession of injuries and of short and long stops; the most serious was his shoulder, which forced him to stop for more than two months. Over the course of the season, therefore, the British player lost 22 positions in the ATP ranking (from 40 to 62). However, he manages to play in his first final in the major circuit Sofia, losing in three sets to Adrian Mannarino. In the last part of the year you can see him on the pitch regularly: excellent results like the fourth round at the US Openafter beating Hurkacz, and the aforementioned final lost in Bulgaria constitute a good appetizer in view of 2024.

The year starts again along the lines of the previous one. Once again predicted as a possible revelation of the year by some of his colleagues. Once again defeated in the final of an ATP 250 (Adelaidein three sets, at the hands of Jiri Lehecka). Once again a negative period: unique highlight noteworthy is the handshake at the end of the match with Giron atAustralian Openwhere Draper quickly compliments his opponent and then vomits into a trash can.

From entering the circuit Draper has almost never managed to find continuity of performanceboth due to physical problems and because, more simply, he lives with ups and downs. After yet another low point, when he seemed to have taken yet another right direction in his brief career, the question arose spontaneously.. Does it make sense to continue believing it?

The answer came directly from him. Coincidentally, at the gates of his home Slam, as well as his favorite tournament, Jack Draper shines again. This time of an even more dazzling light than ever before: the ten days between Stuttgart and Queen’s represent the best moment of his career. Not only from a formal point of view – best ranking, 29, and victory of the first ATP title in Stuttgart – but also from a technical point of view.

For the first time Draper finds consistency in level and performance. For the first time in his career he seems to have achieved one optimal physical condition, and the results arrived accordingly. A month ago it was Already appeared very satisfied: «The big takeaway is my body, how I can keep playing every week without breaking down».

After the 10 days between Germany and England, rereading this sentence and thinking about how frustrating his career must have been is remarkable: It’s no coincidence that he thought about quitting.

Fortunately this was not the case. Because her tennis, first of all, is beautiful to look at. 193 cm per 85 kg, despite chronic hip problems and many injuries, Draper is physically very prepared, at least at first glance. The first peculiarity lies in the dominant hand: in life it is the right, while in tennis it is the left.

It is no coincidence that the best shot is the two-handed backhand, which enjoys a real anatomical advantage. In fact, the weak hand is essential to give stability and direction to the shot, and Draper can boast one that is almost as strong as his dominant one.

The exit he prefers, with just as little chance, is the backhand one along the line, especially if after two-three shots played on the crossed diagonal: the ease with which he manages to change angle it’s disarming.

In addition to holding the exchange solidly from the baseline, Draper’s backhand is also excellent offensive weapon: both to close the one-twos after a good first serve, and in response to the serve, where his talent gave him brilliant timing on the ball, to say the least. In the match against Alcaraz at Queen’s, there were 10 backhand winners, despite the 6 obtained with the forehand. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

The first point is the practical demonstration: aggressive response, backhand down the line from a complicated position and easy smash to close the exchange. In the next point, if that wasn’t enough, the backhand return turns into a winner.

If your backhand is already one of the best on the circuit, the obverse It “limits” itself to being a solid shot, but which still manages to give him many points. He can play it both loaded and more drier and faster: like any self-respecting left-handed player, the preferred trajectory is undoubtedly the hook-back one, very useful when it comes to passing the opponent to the net.

In Stuttgart, in the tiebreak of the second set against Berrettini, the Italian commentators advise Matteo to absolutely avoid his opponent’s backhand return. Berrettini obviously knows this and chooses a central second serve from the right, which Draper sends back the other way with a fatal winner of straight. However, timing on the ball is a natural talent.

With this response Draper obtains the decisive minibreak to win the tiebreak and take the second set.

A few days before Wimbledon, we can’t help but talk about service, the real extra weapon of the British tennis player. The number that has caught the eye these days is certainly 31: the ace served against a demoralized Frances Tiafoe. This is clearly an exceptional peak, but the average in best-of-three-set matches is still around ten. To give you an idea, in the Halle final between Hurkacz and Sinner, the two shot 13 and 10 aces respectively.

However, beyond the number of aces in and of themselves, Draper’s serve is interesting for the advantage it manages to create on a tactical level. In fact, the most frequent trajectory is the one coming out from the left, which throws the opponent out of the corridor and opens up the field for the next shot. Being left-handed also means that the second ball of the rally – assuming it arrives – often lands on his backhand, and then winning the point becomes child’s play.

A widely used pattern, in perfect style old schooland the serve&volley, especially on the second ball. In this case Draper forces the opponent to risk the passer, leading him to make a mistake, or other times, to score a point. As reported by Tennis Abstractin the first two matches (against Navone and Alcaraz) at Queen’s la percentage of points won with the second it was 90 (!) and 66 percent respectively: with Tommy Paul it went much worse, winning only 48% of the points – it is no coincidence that a defeat occurred.

A rete Draper looks greatIndeed, he often manages to find complicated and surprising solutions, both for the spectators and for his opponents.

In the same game he plays two copy points, knocking Alcaraz off the court with his serve and closing the point with two very complicated backhand demi-volleys. To get an idea of ​​the difficulty of this shot, there is no other solution than to go to a tennis court and try, in vain, to replicate it.

What Draper is still missing on the field is a plus refined reading of the game and his opponents: in the match against Tommy Paul, for example, Draper continued to insist on some solutions even though they didn’t bring him great results.

The boy, however, is young and above all with little experience. Despite being the same age as Jannik Sinner, Draper played just 99 games in the main circuit, despite the over 300 of the new world no.1. Damn injuries. A year and a half late, however, Jack Draper appears finally blossomed. The streak of seven consecutive victories took him to the top of British tennis, overtaking Cameron Norrie, and the investiture of his idol, Andy Murray, also arrived on time.

«I believe Jack has much bigger aspirations than first place in Great Britain. The way I see it has all it takes to get very high also in the world rankings. His love for tennis is genuine; she has the right head and works hard», said Sir Andy.

Although his experience on tour is still to be built, Draper is great when he’s on the pitch maturitywithout thinking about anything other than the game, with him gaze hidden by the shadow of the visor, almost as if to isolate himself from a sensorial point of view from everything superfluous that surrounds him.

The only doubt is always the same: the physique. Many times we have seen it emerge and just as many times we have seen it sink, only to then re-emerge and sink again. Fate has decided that the final answer lies with Wimbledonwhich in 2018 saw him in the final in the junior category and in 2024 will see him among the top seeds for the first time, perhaps enjoying an easier draw in the first round.

In London they have been waiting for him for years. Murray has them passed the baton even before the cruel weather took away the possibility of taking the field in his garden. «On the grass he will get great satisfaction» said Andy. And we hope that the prediction, this time, really comes true.

2024-06-24 13:00:00
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