Jack Draper Assesses his Chances Against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on Grass

Jack Draper interestingly has a positive record against both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on grass.

Jack Draper Assesses his Chances Against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on Grass

Jack Draper (image via X); In circle: Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (images via Wimbledon)

Jack Draper continued his Wimbledon preparations with an exhibition match against Holger Rune at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham on Thursday. The pair had last met at the Indian Wells final this year, where Draper defeated Rune in straight sets to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 trophy. 

On Thursday, Draper defeated the Dane 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 in an entertaining matchup at the pristine Centre Court at the Hurlingham Club in London. At a career-high of World No. 4, Draper has had a remarkable season so far, reaching the finals of two Masters 1000 tournaments. He enters his home soil Grand Slam as a favorite with the potential to unsettle top seeds Jannik Sinner and perhaps Carlos Alcaraz too. Draper said at Queen’s Club:

I think grass is a surface that really suits my game. I think people had this stigma that, because I’m a British tennis player, then I must be unbelievable on grass. I never play on grass, it’s difficult, but I’ve had wins against them (Alcaraz and Sinner) on this surface, and I feel confident. It suits my weapons. I think I’m still learning how to be most effective on this surface…

Draper has proven to be an emerging all-surface player, but his prowess on grass is particularly interesting. It is on this surface that he has a positive record against both Alcaraz and Sinner. Draper upset Alcaraz in straight sets last year in the Round of 16 at Queen’s, and he defeated Sinner as well at Queen’s in 2021.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz will be a strong favorite for the Wimbledon title this year as he aims for a three-peat, a feat only accomplished by Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic so far.

He will also have a heightened sense of confidence that he has gained from winning his last three tournaments, with one of them being on grass. Sinner, on the other hand, made great progress at the Roland Garros, reaching the finals for the first time, albeit losing to the World No. 2. The Italian later faced an early exit to eventual champion Alexander Bublik at the Halle Open.

Jack Draper faces a challenging draw at Wimbledon

Jack Draper won his maiden ATP title on grass at the 2024 Stuttgart Open. He had a decent run at the Queen’s Club Championships this year, reaching the semifinal, where he lost to Jiri Lehecka. Draper added:

Obviously the outdoor hard—the outdoor and indoor hard is probably the surface I’ve enjoyed the most throughout my career so far, but I’m still quite inexperienced on the grass. So I think it’ll be interesting to see how I get on next week and obviously for the rest of my career.

Jack Draper
Jack Draper (image via Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic)

Draper will be looking to improve his record at Wimbledon, where he is yet to progress beyond the second round. The Brit will start his Wimbledon campaign facing Sebastian Baez in the opening round of the tournament.

However, this year, Draper faces quite a challenging draw. He will potentially have to get past Alexander Bublik in the third round. Bublik defeated Draper at Roland Garros last month and recently won his second Halle Open title.

He will have to then take his Miami Open revenge against Jakub Mensik in the fourth, overcome seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinal, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinal, and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final. If he does so, he will become the next British man to win the Wimbledon title, after Andy Murray. 

Also Read: Andy Murray Seeks to Keep Advice to Jack Draper Private Ahead of the Wimbledon Championships