Jamie Murray gives honest Jack Draper verdict and shoots down Emma Raducanu ‘hype’
Jamie Murray has praised Emma Raducanu’s 2025 Wimbledon performance, but admitted that the 2021 US Open champion is ‘miles away’ from the results of British No 1 Jack Draper.
The former men’s doubles No 1 weighed in on the British tennis scene after another edition of the country’s biggest tennis event, where Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek lifted the trophies.
Raducanu, on her part, reached the third round at SW19, defeating Mimi Xu and Marketa Vondrousova along the way.
Once in the last 32, the Brit fell to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a highly competitive 7-6(4), 6-4 clash.
“She actually got a good draw, playing a young British girl in the first match,” said Murray, whilst speaking to the Mirror.
“But if you’re unseeded then you’re going to have to play top players pretty early in the event.
“I would say the third round is a good result, all things considered. She had a competitive match with Sabalenka. Hopefully she goes and has a good summer in America. But it’s not like Jack – he was number four in the world [at Wimbledon]. He’s putting results together all the time, he’s proven that he’s world-class and a top player.
“That’s miles away from being at the level that Jack is at. Of course she had an unbelievable result at the US Open. But she obviously needs to win a lot more matches to be talked about as a contender for these tournaments.
“But of course, the hype is obviously massive based on her story of winning the US Open a few years ago. Not to talk bad about Emma, but Jack is in a completely different place in his career than where she is.”
As Murray commented upon, Draper has had a career-best season, lifting the title at Indian Wells and reaching the showpiece match at the Madrid Masters.
Consequently, he was able to secure the fourth seed spot at Wimbledon. Despite the position, ultimately, Draper fell to former finalist Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in the second round – looking several levels below his grass-court best.
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“Jack had a disappointing Wimbledon for him, but it was a tough draw in Cilic when the guy has won Grand Slams, been in finals, loves playing on grass and is a former Queens winner, that’s a tough match for him,” analysed the former men’s doubles No 1.
“I’m sure he’ll come back stronger next year and in the future years and he’ll be at the top of the game for 10 years – he’ll be one of the guys in that chasing pack trying to get to the level of [Jannik] Sinner and [Carlos] Alcaraz and compete with them on the biggest stage.
“I’m excited for Jack and what’s to come for him. I don’t think this Wimbledon is going to define how his future career goes in any shape or form.
“You’ve got 23 people in the main draw, but 16 of them are wild cards. So that’s seven players across the men and women in the main draw. I wouldn’t say that’s fantastic at all for a nation that’s got much cash behind it every year. That’s not great numbers at all, but that’s where we are.”
Raducanu is due to return to the tour at the WTA 500 event in Washington, taking place from July 21 – 27.
Meanwhile, Draper has chosen to opt out of the Washington tournament and will next participate at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto – which begins July 27th. 2025 marks the first season that the Canadian event will span across two weeks.
