Former ATP player weighs in on Jack Draper’s chances of winning the 2025 Wimbledon Championship

Jack Draper failed to get past Jiri Lehecka at the Queen's Club Championships semi-final ahead of Wimbledon

Former ATP player weighs in on Jack Draper’s chances of winning the 2025 Wimbledon Championship

Jack Draper (via X/The Tennis Letter)

The eyes of the nation will be upon Jack Draper as the great hope of British tennis at the 2025 Wimbledon Championship. The 23-year-old is currently the British No.1 and World No.4 in the ATP rankings following his run at the Queen’s Club Championships. Former ATP player Feliciano Lopez has weighed in on his chances of winning the All England Club title.

Draper has had an impressive season so far winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells. He also enjoyed an excellent run during the clay season, finishing as runners-up in Madrid, while reaching the quarter-finals of the Italian Open. He was expected to become the first British man to win the Queen’s Championships since Andy Murray, but he failed to do so.

The British No.1 missed out on reaching the final of the ATP 500 tournament after losing 4-6, 6-4, 5-7 at the hands of Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals. Lehecka then went on to finish as runners-up at the tournament after losing in three sets to Carlos Alcaraz, who claimed his fifth title of the season and second at Queen’s.

Draper was the favorite to beat Lehecka with the support of the crowd, but the British man found himself on the back foot after going down a break in the opening set, and the Czech star swiftly secured an early lead. The British No.1 found a way back into the contest in the second set and entered the third poised to complete the comeback.

However, he was unable to carry on with the momentum into the decider, failing to Lehecka after two hours and nine minutes. Draper was deeply frustrated after the loss but he now has to switch his focus to Wimbledon, where he has never gotten past the second round. Nonetheless, Feliciano Lopez revealed on Sky Sports that he believes that he’s a strong contender for the grass-court championship title:

Draper is absolutely a contender to win Wimbledon. He is definitely a contender to make the final. Having said that he will need a little bit of luck because he would have to beat Alcaraz and Sinner back-to-back potentially. He could beat one of them, but can he beat both? Unlikely! Maybe in the future. It’s intriguing and it’s possible, as I said at the start of the year, that Draper could make the Wimbledon final and nothing has happened in the last six months to change my mind.

Draper reached the second round of the Wimbledon Championship last year before losing to Cameron Norrie in straight sets. The British No.1 has a lot of work to do to adapt to the surface, especially after his good run at the Queen’s Club Championships. Wimbledon is set to kick off on June 30.

Feliciano Lopez says Jack Draper needs to be more consistent to reach his full level on the court

Jack Draper’s exploits in reaching the final four at the Queen’s Club Championships last week secured him a top-four seed at Wimbledon ahead of the draw. That means he will avoid the heavyweight duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner until the semi-finals of Wimbledon, but may face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

Jack Draper
Jack Draper (via Punto de Break)

During the aforementioned interview, Feliciano Lopez stated that he was impressed by how much Draper has improved on the court for the past 18 months, but added that the British star needs to be more consistent before he can reach his best level:

I think Jack is a very complete player. I think if he keep developing his game, he’d have a good chance against Carlos and Jannik on grass. He probably needs to be a bit more consistent week after week. When he’s able to reach his best level I think he has proved already that he can beat anyone. We saw some of that in Indian Wells when he won the title, also in Madrid, and actually he’s one of the players that I love watching. The amount of improvement in the last 18 months is truly amazing.

Draper’s run at the Queen’s Club Championships was the best in his career. However, he has a lot to learn before the Wimbledon Championship. He hopes to use this week to get to his best level and finally transition to the grass court.

Also Read: Alexander Bublik Cites Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s Examples to Explain Importance of Pressure After Halle Win