Draper’s Diversions: British Star Benefits from Off-Court Escapes

By Richard Osborn

Sometimes Jack Draper just has to get away from it all.

That will happen when you’re the designated heir apparent to Sir Andy Murray, who after more than 700 victories, a trio of Grand Slam titles (including two at Wimbledon), a pair of Olympic gold medals and a whole lot of goodwill, has called it a career. The weight of a nation squarely upon his 22-year-year-old shoulders, you’ll excuse him if he occasionally needs a mindless, tennis-free outlet.

“I think it’s important to sort of try and get out of the tennis world, to watch a Netflix series or have a joke, anything that’s non-tennis related,” said Draper, a South Londoner who grew up idolizing the Scot Murray. “I’m learning to detach myself better from the tennis world when I’m outside it.”

“As a tennis player, sometimes it’s tough. We’re in a sport where we’re traveling, we’re in our own thoughts, we’re out there on the court on our own. But having a great team around me helps. I’m here with [the former world No. 6] Wayne Ferreira, my coach, who’s got so much experience and knows what it’s like being on the tour. We’re playing card games with my physio, my trainer.”

The son of a former British junior tennis champion and a onetime LTA CEO, the 6-foot-4 Draper possesses an imposing game. But he’s had a hard time staying healthy. After a breakthrough 2022 that saw him collect wins over Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Dominic Thiem, he suffered a series of shoulder setbacks. Altogether, he would miss six months due to injury and fall outside the Top 100.

But Draper’s body has been cooperating of late. As a result, the left-hander captured his maiden title in Stuttgart, stunned defending champion Carlos Alcaraz en route to the Queen’s Club quarters, and rose to a career-high No. 26. Along the way, he became the new British No. 1, supplanting countryman Cameron Norrie. Now he’s into the Round of 16 of the Cincinnati Open, advancing on Thursday with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 turnaround against ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

“Being healthy and being able to stay on the court is a huge thing,” he said.

Draper is doing his best to stay patient. He’s relatively inexperienced, after all. He’s played just 109 matches at the tour level. He’s aware that there’s still a steep learning curve ahead.

“It’s my first proper year traveling on tour playing the best players in the world, taking losses, winning, learning all these things,” said Draper, who in June was featured in a British Vogue photo spread. “A lot of the guys I’m up against, they’ve been on tour for four, five years. They know how to play certain points. At the end of the day, in tennis, the best players in the world only win 54 percent of the points, so the margins for error are so small. I think I’m improving mentally and physically all the time. I’ve obviously got a lot more work to do.”

Draper’s latest diversion from his livelihood? The TV series “Gangs of London”.

“I don’t think it’s for everyone,” he grinned. “But it’s nice to get into something that’s not tennis. If not, I’d be watching tennis highlights from 2009 and all this sort of stuff. That’s not healthy when you’re around it all the time. I think getting away from it is so important to a player.”

Draper, who started playing tennis at age three by practicing against a wall at the tennis club where his mother coached, says it can be a challenge to get away from those match highlights and the rabbit hole that is YouTube.

“It’s our job and I care so much about being a great player, so I’m always comparing myself to other players and watching highlights and watching what they did better than me,” he said. “It’s hard these days with social media and the access we have. But I just try to focus on myself and my own journey.”

For now, instead of scouting his on-court rivals in his down time, Draper will stick to the turf wars and power struggles between rival gangs in the U.K., happy with the diversion.