Jack Draper About

The Sutton southpaw who turned heavy left-handed power into a top-five season

Jack Draper is the leading edge of British men's tennis after Andy Murray, and like Murray he came up through the family game. His mother Nicky, a former British junior champion who coached at the family's Sutton club, handed him a racket as a child; his father Roger ran the Lawn Tennis Association. Draper reached the Wimbledon boys' final in 2018 and turned pro the same year, but a string of physical setbacks slowed the climb — Futures titles in 2019, Challenger breakthroughs in 2022, and his first ATP trophies arriving only in 2024.

The draw is the left-handed firepower. Draper hits one of the bigger lefty serves on tour, a delivery that opens the deuce court the way Nadal's did to right-handers, and pairs it with a forehand he loads up from well behind the baseline. He's most dangerous setting the terms of the point; the durability question — cramping, shoulder, the long injury ledger — has historically been the ceiling rather than the level. On a hard court at full health he beats anyone, a point he proved against Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur on his way up the rankings.

The defining stretch came across 2024 and 2025. A first Slam semifinal at the US Open, a maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, and a run to the Queen's Club final pushed him into the top five for the first time — the highest a British man has sat since Murray. Grass and hard remain his best surfaces; clay is the work in progress.

The current beat is sobering. Draper sits at No. 75, the injury problems having clawed back most of that hard-won ranking. The season ahead is about whether the body can hold long enough to relitigate the top ten.

Jack Draper at a glance

Jack Draper is 24 years old; was born in Sutton, England; lives in London; stands 1.93 m; plays left-handed; and is ranked No. 158 in the ATP rankings.