Jack Draper Discusses the Need to Improve in his Game Following in the Footsteps of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Jack Draper is expected to return to the tour next season after being sidelined for bone bruising.

Jack Draper Discusses the Need to Improve in his Game Following in the Footsteps of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner, Jack Draper, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, British Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

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Jack Draper had his best season on the ATP Tour in 2025, but it ended abruptly in August after sustaining a bone bruising injury. He has not been available on tour since August and he’s set to be out until next season. However, the British star revealed that it was the need to follow in Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s footsteps that made him improve on the court.

Before being sidelined for the remainder of the season, Draper cracked into the top 5 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career. He enjoyed a splendid run on tour, reaching three finals and almost earning his place in the final of the Queen’s Club Championships if not for some mistakes in the semi-finals against Jiri Lehecka.

The 23-year-old is one of the few players on tour, who has beaten Alcaraz and Sinner. He defeated Alcaraz twice, first at home in London at the 2024 Queen’s Championships and then at the Indian Wells Masters in March. He defeated Sinner back in 2021 at the Queen’s Championship, in the round of 32.

However, Sinner and Alcaraz have been the two best players in the men’s circuit for the past two seasons. No player came close to reaching their level on the court this year as they claimed all the Grand Slams. In fact, for the past two seasons, only Sinner and Alcaraz have won major titles and reached the last three major finals.

Draper, who has been eyeing them and seeking to follow their footsteps since they rose on tour, revealed that it was Alcaraz and Sinner that pushed him to improve on the court. The former World No.4 explained during an interview with Tennis Mentor that he admired how they played freely on the court:

That was a moment where I had to look at myself and think that I need to go out there and win those matches. They are not just going to give it to me in those tight moments. It was that moment in my head where I thought, if I want to be a really great player then I have to be a complete player, not just someone who is going to make them miss. Also, from my perspective, it is a fun way of playing tennis. You watch guys like Alcaraz and Sinner at the moment and they are playing so freely.

Alcaraz and Sinner claimed fourteen tour-level titles combined this season, including the four Grand Slams. Nonetheless, the former leads the latter 8-6 in the head-to-head title win in 2025. They also met six times on tour, including in three Grand Slams. Alcaraz won four of the six clashes and holds a 10-6 head-to-head record against Sinner.

Jack Draper reflects on his 2025 Indian Wells triumph

Jack Draper reached his first tour-level final of the 2025 season at the Qatar Open in February. The tournament was his first since crashing out of the Australian Open. However, that wasn’t much of a problem for the 23-year-old as he reached the final before losing to Andrey Rublev in three sets.

Jack Draper Vuori US Open 2025
Jack Draper (image via Matt Fitzgerald)

In his next tournaments, he claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown after beating Holger Rune in the final in Indian Wells. Speaking about it in the aforementioned interview, the British No.1 explained that he didn’t have too much confidence in his game before winning the title after beating Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals:

I went to Indian Wells a week earlier and trained. I felt really good about my tennis. Obviously, you know, it’s tough to believe that you’re going to win one of those big tournaments if you’ve never done it before, so I was very much, I’m very much a person who takes it on a match-by-match basis.

Draper is expected to take part in a few exhibition tournaments as he continues his preparation for the tour next season. He hopes to have a smooth transition in form when the 2026 season fully kicks off at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

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