As Andy Murray plays his 1,000th match and Jack Draper plays his first tournament as British No1, it feels like an appropriate time for the torch to be passed; for the poisoned chalice of a nation’s hopes to move on.
The 22-year-old Draper arrived at the Queen’s Club on Monday for the cinch Championships with the first title of his career in the bag from Stuttgart and a career-high ranking of 31.
‘It feels amazing. Last year I was watching from home, doing my rehab (from a shoulder injury),’ said Draper. ‘So to come here this year and be in the position I’m in, feeling like I have made so many improvements and grown so much as a player, I’m really proud. It’s great to be back on home soil.’
It was all a far cry from the last time we spoke to Draper at Roland Garros after his first-round defeat by qualifier Jesper de Jong.
He has been wrestling with the demands of his new coach, South African former world No 6 Wayne Ferreira, to embrace the attacking style his 6ft 4in frame demands. Draper looked horribly betwixt and between in Paris but blew everyone off the court in Stuttgart. There is definitely an element of the boy having become a man.
Andy Murray will play his 1,000th match against big-serving Australian Alexei Popyrin
Meanwhile, Jack Draper, who is just 22 years old, will play in his first tournament as British No1
‘When I got home (from Paris) I really thought to myself: I need to just fully commit to this,’ he said.
‘Ultimately I want to play the tennis where I’m able to beat top players by being aggressive and being the one to dominate them.
‘It was just a moment of: I need to change, and I really, really have the mindset of wanting to play like a 6ft 4in big-serving player. And whether that is taking more risks and missing a few more shots than I would usually do, then that’s OK.
‘When I play someone like Taylor Fritz or Hubert Hurkacz or someone who is a similar height to me, I feel like I’m 5ft 6in sometimes.
‘I was very small when I was younger. I was grinding through matches, trying to outmaneuver players, whereas I don’t need to do that anymore.’
The first round here will be a good bellweather: the old Draper would have ground down 5ft 10in Argentine Mariano Navone; his attitude today should just be to blast the clay-court specialist to smithereens.
Murray faces big-serving Australian Alexei Popyrin today, and he insists that his exalted national status should by no means be the extent of Draper’s ambitions.
‘Jack has bigger goals to aspire to than being in the British No1,’ said Murray, who has slipped easily into the role of mentor and sage of young British tennis players in his twilight years. ‘In my opinion he can get up to the top of the game, to the top of the world rankings.’
Murray says Draper ‘has bigger goals to aspire to than being in the British No1’
