LONDON :For a brief two weeks every year the British public becomes hooked on tennis, desperately seeking a home player to cheer to sporting glory on the fabled lawns of Wimbledon and this year the spotlight falls on Jack Draper.
For decades, it was a cause for hysteria if a British player survived to the second week of the singles.
Then came Tim Henman’s multiple journeys to the semi-finals before Andy Murray became a national hero by ending a 77-year wait for a men’s champion by winning the title in 2013, before repeating the feat three years later.
Johanna Konta reached the semi-finals in 2017, as did Cameron Norrie in 2022, and Emma Raducanu’s astonishing U.S. Open triumph as a qualifier in 2021 means she is now saddled with trying to become the first British player to win the women’s title since Virginia Wade in 1977.
Murray is now retired and will have a statue erected in his honour at the All England Club but, right on cue, Draper has stepped into the breach and looks capable of shouldering a nation’s hopes on his broad shoulders.
Draper, 23, has won only two matches in three previous visits to Wimbledon. But the past 12 months has seen him evolve from a player regarded as physically fragile to a beast of the courts with the weapons to challenge the very best.
He ended last year ranked 15th in the world after a dream run to the U.S. Open semi-finals, but Draper was clearly hungry to go much higher and after claiming the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells and reaching the final in Madrid, the left-hander will arrive at Wimbledon as the fourth seed.
Blessed with a potent southpaw serve, a thunderbolt forehand some are likening to that of Rafa Nadal’s and vastly improved physicality, the hype around the London-born Draper is not without good reason.
“I’ve got to say he’s become extremely formidable,” three-times Wimbledon champion John McEnroe told Reuters last month.
“He’s a threat to anyone at this point. He’s certainly going to be one of the top couple of favourites at Wimbledon and he’s going to be extremely difficult to beat.”
SOARING EXPECTATIONS
Draper got a taste of the soaring expectations last week at Queen’s Club when he reached the semi-finals before losing to dangerous Czech player Jiri Lehecka.
The spotlight will be turned up to maximum intensity when he begins his Wimbledon quest next week as the highest British men’s seed since 2017. Draper will be front page news and his every move will be followed by a forest of camera lenses.
Dealing with that pressure could prove as challenging as trying to de-throne Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Draper has spoken in the past of his tendency to over-stress and even vomit on court. A breathing coach has helped immensely with those issues and he looks the real deal, although taking the next step will be daunting.
Murray knows full well what Draper can expect over the next fortnight, but is confident his successor is ready for it.
“It’ll be a little bit different this year coming in as a top seed but he’ll deal with it well,” Murray told the BBC.
“He’s played in difficult environments and under pressure before, and I’m sure he’ll cope with it well.”
Draper seems ready for the challenge.
“I’m going to Wimbledon and I’m going to feel amazing, I’m going to feel great about myself,” he said at Queen’s.
“I’m going back there in the position I’ve always wanted since I was a kid.”
