Draper’s tennis trajectory has been a regular construct to stardom since these Junior Wimbledon days. Fellow Old Reedonian Tim Henman is in awe of his ‘big game’ and ‘huge future’. Emma Raducanu, an instantaneous modern, counts him as a shut good friend. Greg Rusedski even mooted him as Andy Murray’s ‘heir apparent’ two years earlier than Draper trounced Murray in a damning two-set defeat at Indian Wells 2023 – a spectacular altering of the guard. The subsequent day, broadcasters dubbed them ‘the present and the future of British tennis’. At the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Roehampton (the place his father, Roger Draper, was the former chief government of the LTA), heads flip as Draper passes by, and posters of him are plastered all over the place. He is a bona fide ‘big name on campus’, however being the brightest hope of the brand new era could be a burden. ‘It’s the strain that I placed on myself internally which is greater than that,’ he says. ‘The ambition that I have to succeed and be the best.’
From the courts of New York and Miami to Melbourne and Madrid, Draper exudes main-character vitality – and with motive: he reached world No 38 earlier this 12 months, and has an estimated wealth of $3 million, propped up by prize cash and sponsorship offers with the likes of Vodafone and Nike. Tennis followers fawn over his enigmatic Instagram photographs, whereas on TikTok, #JackDraper movies – assume slo-mo pictures that linger on these cheekbones – have racked up greater than 200,000 views. He’s even getting recognised on the native pharmacy. ‘I’m nonetheless a child,’ he counters.
A child who has simply flown the nest. Draper not too long ago moved out of his mom’s Surrey dwelling, forsaking his ‘little brother’ – their Australian Labradoodle Ozzy. Together with his outdated good friend and now housemate, the skilled British tennis participant Paul Jubb, 23, Draper is easing into maturity. When he hasn’t been practising that shattering serve on the NTC, simply a six-minute drive away, he’s been studying to maintain his tennis whites white (‘I’m having fun with with the ability to wash my very own garments. There’s been the odd shrinking catastrophe, however we’re again on monitor’); conquering the kitchen (‘I’ve acquired two recipes thus far – hen pesto pasta and a good egg on toast’); and dipping his toe into the social scene. ‘I like places that are sort of undergroundthat are sort of underground or that people don’t learn about,’ he says, however doesn’t reveal precisely the place he means. Anywhere good is saved to the ‘notes’ app on his telephone. And for those who surprise why Draper chooses to not caption his Instagram posts, it’s as a result of: ‘I’m not a fan of cringe in any respect.’
