Draper on playing with Sinner, Murray's farewell & more

It has been a memorable few weeks for Jack Draper in an unforgettable season for the Briton.

The lefty competed in the Olympics for the first time in Paris, where he enjoyed a front-row seat to the final event of Andy Murray’s career.

“lt was amazing. Andy's been such a role model and an inspiration for me throughout the years,” Draper said. “I think to be at his last event was incredible. Obviously, what he's done for the sport and done for British tennis, hopefully I can take it forward from here.”

Draper has reached new heights in 2024, ascending to a career-high No. 26 in the PIF ATP Rankings in July and claiming his first ATP Tour title in Stuttgart. But a memory that will stick out despite a second-round loss in singles is spending time with Murray and his teammates in Paris.

“To be a part of the team and to be at his last event, having watched when he was younger, what he's achieved and stuff, that was really special and a real honour for me,” Draper said. “Hopefully, he's going to stick around and not be a stranger. He'll still be around and give advice and be a good friend.”

That was not Draper’s only fun experience lately. In Montreal, the Briton partnered World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in doubles. They won two matches together at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event.

“He's such a good player, but more importantly, an incredible human being. [He is] very genuine, funny, and that's the reason why we wanted to play together. I think we're good friends,” Draper said. “We always say hi to each other. We always support each other regardless of results. It's nice to sort of have that camaraderie and stuff, and even though hopefully we will be close rivals.”

Draper won his only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Sinner in two tie-breaks at the 2021 cinch Championships. Since then, both men have soared up the PIF ATP Rankings and vastly improved their games.

“He’s someone I have huge respect for, and I think he's doing incredibly well in the sport,” Draper said. “He’s one of those guys who's showing us the way. So to play with him was a real honour, and to play with the No. 1 in the world was huge as well.”

This year’s Adelaide finalist needed two hours and 33 minutes to claw past Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5) for a place in the Cincinnati Open second round. He lost his opening match in Montreal to in-form Australian Jordan Thompson.

“Obviously coming from the Olympics, I haven't had too much time on the hard courts,” Draper said. “So last week was a real challenge, having to compete after just three or four days on the hard, especially going from the grass, then clay, then to the hard. But I had a tough last week, and it was really difficult to sort of accept. But I played really good doubles with Jannik, a couple of matches, and came here and just kept on trying to put in the work.”

Draper has a chance to earn an upset victory on Thursday against ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Win or lose, he is excited to continue pushing his game forward.

“My tennis isn't the prettiest at the moment,” Draper said. “I think it's tough conditions here, everyone finds a little bit difficult because the ball flies through the air very quickly. But in general happy with the way I fought today and happy to come through.”