Jack Draper gives tonsillitis update and speaks of being Andy Murray’s Wimbledon heir

Sam Cooper 28 Jun 2025 9:15 PM

Jack Draper at Wimbledon

World No 4 Jack Draper said he has fully recovered from a bout of tonsillitis that gave him a “tough week” in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament Queen’s.

The British No 1 arrives in SW19 with a lot of expectation behind him given his form this year, including a victory at Indian Wells.

But his preparation has been disrupted by a bout of tonsillitis which affected him throughout the Queen’s competition. Asked whether he is still suffering from any effects of the illness, the 23-year-old confirmed he was back to full fitness.

“No, I feel good now. Queen’s was a tough week for me, playing through that,” he said. “I tried to give it my all. I wasn’t able to find the tennis I wanted on the court or feel physically that great.

“But to give myself a chance of making the final, I think was, in reflection, a really good effort. It was quite an emotionally taxing week, because I was trying to get so much out of myself.

“I rested up for a couple of days. I trained. I played a match at Hurlingham. I feel much better now. I’m full of energy to try and find my best tennis this coming week.”

Having recovered from the illness, Draper now faces a different task – the pressure of being Britain’s best hope.

With Andy Murray’s victory in 2016 being the last time a Brit won the tournament, only once in the last six years has a home player made it past the third round.

Expectation then is on Draper to do so, given his form this season so far, and he said he was ready to be the heir to Murray’s throne.

“I think obviously when Andy retired, they said I was the next in line for that,” Draper, who won his only match against Murray, said.

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“I know it’s Wimbledon coming up, but I think I didn’t really think about it then, and I’ve improved so much and put myself in this position.

“Kind of the same thing. I’ll keep trying to do my best to keep try and improving, to show my best tennis out there, to hopefully present myself as the player and the person I want to be.

“Obviously Andy has done an unbelievable job of that and has been incredibly successful and has become adored by the nation. It’s obviously big shoes to fill. I’m aware of that.

“At the same time I’m confident in myself that hopefully I can inspire people like Andy has done, myself.”