Jack Draper chooses the player he would rely on to win a match to save his life
2025 Indian Wells champion Jack Draper has revealed who he would rely on to win a professional tennis match to save his life.
The Brit has been in remarkable form in 2025, reaching the fourth-round of the Australian Open, the final of Doha, before winning the biggest title of his career at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Draper is now ranked as the world No 7 and could go higher, should he have a successful clay-court season.
“I would say Rafa [Nadal] on the clay, but if I wasn’t going to say that I would say [Novak] Djokovic any day of the week,” answered the 23-year-old, when posed with the question by YouTube’s ‘Tennis Brothers.’
Of course, Nadal on clay is often a popular answer with the ‘King of Clay’ holding a 112-4 record at his beloved Roland Garros, and a remarkable 63-9 record in clay-court finals – among other feats.
As for Djokovic as a second option, his statistics also speak for themselves.
Indeed, Draper shares a unique similarity with the 22-time Grand Slam winner, according to his mother – Nicky: “He has always played tennis left-handed. He writes right-handed, he was a right-handed thrower, but he always held a racket with his left hand and while I am often credited with starting Jack in tennis, but it was actually my Mum who was the inspiration.”
“Weirdly enough, my leftiness is a big plus, but I think the fact I’m actually a right-hander, so I think that really helps me,” the British No 1 remarked upon.
“My forehand has been improving all the time. My forehand is naturally the shot where, you know, I’m not as comfortable. It’s always been my backhand which has been the shot, like, I can hit with my eyes closed, you know.
“I really have no problem against any player with their forehand into my backhand. Usually, that’s something where players struggle, but with myself, that’s a big strength of mine. So I think the mix of that is a big advantage.”
Nadal and Draper played once, which occurred at the 2023 Australian Open, with the former prevailing in a four-set battle which ended up being the Spaniard’s final Grand Slam match victory.
The Brit’s admiration for the Spanish was evident when he admitted to dressing up as the tennis legend: “When I was younger I had the sleeveless top, the bandanas, all his latest grand-slam clothes. I watched him play (Andy) Murray quite a few times. There’s no denying he’s an iconic player.
Latest ATP News
Novak Djokovic may not take to court for next match as opponent describes ‘painful’ injury
Draper couldn’t back up his success at the Miami Open, losing in straight-sets to Jakub Mensik amid a raucous crowd due to a court change of Joao Fonseca’s third-round match.
“I didn’t really know what was going on it was getting quite loud, couldn’t really hear the ball being hit,” stated Draper, acknowledging the noise.
“I think those Brazilian fans had been in the stadium all day waiting for him [Fonseca] to play and then obviously they changed the court. It’s not ideal but I can understand their frustration, we had to stop for a bit.”
On the other hand, he did have sympathy for supporters of Fonseca’s who had specifically bought tickets to see the 18-year-old Brazilian: “It’s so good [the support], especially at this tournament where I don’t feel like the crowd attendance is amazing, it’s not fair on them if they can’t get on that centre court. I can understand their frustration, I was just confused as to what was going on.”
