Jack Draper predicted to ‘push back’ against Andy Murray as their partnership gets underway
Andy Murray and Jack Draper are set to form a blockbuster partnership for the grass court season, after the British No. 2 split from his former coach, Jamie Delgado.
“I am very grateful for everything Jamie Delgado has done for me over these past six months. He is a world-class coach and a great man,” said Draper in a statement, before confirming his link-up with the legendary three-time Grand Slam champion.
“In the interim, I will continue to be supported by the excellent team at the LTA, with the addition of Andy Murray, who will be supporting me throughout the grass-court season.”
Draper and Murray have known each other for a long time and their relationship consists largely of friendship, rather than professional respect, according to Mark Petchey.
Speaking on The Tennis Channel, Petchey divulged the pair’s relationship and suggested Draper is not afraid to butt heads with the iconic tennis star.
“Andy and Jack spent a lot of time together on the practice courts before Andy’s retirement. They know each other well and there’s a huge amount of respect there,” said Petchey.
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“I’ve been party to some of their conversations. Jack is very comfortable saying his piece to Andy. It’s not a case of, ‘Well, he’s a two-time Wimbledon champion, so I just need to listen.’ He’ll push back. I think it will be a very productive relationship between the two of them, and I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Murray and Draper will have their work cut out as they look to climb back up the ATP Tour rankings across the grass court season.
Draper currently sits at World No. 75 in the rankings, in part to his lengthy absence last year and the mass amount of points he was defending during the clay court swing.
Thankfully for Draper, even if he does continue to fall down the rankings, he will be almost guaranteed wildcards across the grass court season.
The British star could be looking at a stacked grass court swing, which could include the likes of Wimbledon, Queen’s, Eastbourne, and even the Birmingham Challenger.
Despite hailing from the UK, Draper has never shown his best tennis on grasscourts. He has never made it past the second round of Wimbledon and he only holds a 68% win rate on the surface.
He has traditionally shown his best grass court acumen at Queen’s, where he reached the semi-finals of the competition last year. Draper also defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the tournament in 2025 en route to the quarter-finals.
