Jack Draper sets big rankings target and believes he is ready to challenge
Jack Draper believes he is ready to make a big breakthrough in the men’s game in 2024, as he set himself an ambitious rankings target.
Draper headed into the new season at No 62 in the ATP rankings, after his campaign last season was affected by injury issues.
He is playing his first event of the year in Adelaide this week and has recorded two impressive wins to start the year, with the 22-year-old Draper convinced he is ready to take his game to the next level.
“I had to learn a lot about myself last year, and I dropped outside the top 100,” said Draper.
“I had to grind myself back. I feel like I’m just a lot stronger mentally and I have a lot more perspective of being in a good position.
“I was gutted to miss Wimbledon last summer. Watching it on TV and seeing all the hype around it was tough. Not being able to play at Queen’s and Eastbourne was also frustrating.
“In terms of my tennis, I feel like I’m improving. I’m trying to come forward more.
“I’m trying to win the points instead of letting the other players make a mistake or something, which is what I feel like I was trying to do last year. I feel like both things I’ve improved.
“Pre-season has gone well for me. Training at the National Tennis Centre in London was fantastic, I had a few days playing the UTS event against some top players and I’m coming to Australia feeling good.”
When asked to give a verdict on where he wants to take his ranking by the end of the year, Draper didn’t hold back with his ambition.
“I have spoken about rankings goals with my coach and if I can stay injury-free and stay on the trajectory I have been on since last summer, there is no reason why I can’t be ranked in the top 20 by the end of this year,” he continued.
“That’s my goal, that’s where I want to be. I know I can go a lot further than that, but one step at a time and that’s a good goal for me.”
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Draper collected the biggest payday of his career as he won the UTS Grand Final event in London last month, with his prize money of over £500,000 giving him a security that ensures he can build a strong team around him heading into this season.
“In terms of the money, obviously I did get a lot of money from the event, and yeah, that money will go straight into trying to be a better player, investing in my tennis,” he added.
“I’m not a very kind of materialistic guy, so none of that’s going towards anything else apart from getting better on the tennis side of things. Tennis is a very expensive sport, so every little bit helps.
“In terms of that event, yeah, it’s obviously a bit crazy. The music going on, there’s different rules, there’s bonus cards of three points, and it’s really difficult, but in terms of actual preseason training and physicality, it was tough.
“We played four quarters of eight minutes. You had to be ready to return within five seconds. So even if you played a 30-shot rally, you had to almost kind of run to return.
“It was tough, and obviously you’re not playing just random players. You’re playing the best players in the world. There was a lot of stress on the line, as well.
“It was good, as well, because there was a lot of money on the line and everyone wanted to win, and it made it really competitive. I think I got a lot of confidence from playing those guys.
“I played Rune twice; he’s a top 10 player. Obviously the likes of Bublik, Monfils, Ruud. It was really good for me.”
Draper is through to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International after saving two match points in a comeback win over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
Draper will face American Tommy Paul in the last eight after bouncing back from going a set down to earn a marathon 5-7 7-6 (9) 7-6 (7) victory in three hours and 39 minutes.
