- Andy Murray will play his 1,000th match against the great plunderer Alexei Popyrin
- Meanwhile, Jack Draper, 22, will play his first tournament as British number 1.
- Murray says Draper ‘has bigger goals to aim for than being at No 1’
As Andy Murray plays his 1,000th match and Jack Draper plays his first tournament as British No. 1, it seems an appropriate time to pass the torch; by the poisoned chalice of a nation’s hopes to move forward.
Draper, 22, arrived at the Queen’s Club on Monday for the cinch championship with his first career Stuttgart purse title and a career-high ranking of 31.
‘It feels amazing. Last year I was watching it from home, doing my rehab (from a shoulder injury),’ Draper said. “So to come here this year and be in the position I’m in, feeling like I’ve made so many improvements and grown so much as a player, I’m really proud.” “It’s great to be back home.”
It was all a far cry from the last time we spoke to Draper at Roland Garros after his first-round loss to qualifier Jesper de Jong.
He has been struggling with the demands of his new coach, former South African world number 6 Wayne Ferreira, to adopt the attacking style demanded by his 6ft 4in frame. Draper looked horribly in between in Paris, but he took everyone off the court in Stuttgart. There is definitely an element of the boy becoming a man.
Andy Murray will play his 1,000th match against the great Australian plunderer Alexei Popyrin
Meanwhile, Jack Draper, who is only 22 years old, will play his first tournament as British number 1.
“When I got home (from Paris) I really thought: I need to fully commit to this,” he said.
“Ultimately, I want to play tennis where I can beat the best players by being aggressive and being the one to dominate them.”
“It was just a moment of: I need to change, and I really have the mentality of wanting to play as a 6-foot-4 player with a big serve. And whether that means taking more risks and missing a few more shots than I normally would. , then it’s okay.
“When I play someone like Taylor Fritz or Hubert Hurkacz or someone who is similar in height to me, sometimes I feel like I’m 5 feet 6 inches tall.
‘I was very small when I was younger. “I’ve been playing matches, trying to outplay players, when I don’t need to do that anymore.”
The first round here will be a good prediction: the old Draper would have dropped 5 feet 10 inches to the Argentine Mariano Navone; His attitude today should be to destroy the clay court specialist.
Murray faces Australian Alexei Popyrin today, insisting his exalted national status should by no means be the extent of Draper’s ambitions.
“Jack has bigger goals to aim for than being British number one,” said Murray, who has easily taken on the role of mentor and wise man to young British tennis players in his later years. “In my opinion, he can reach the top of the game, the top of the world rankings.”
Murray says Draper “has bigger goals to aim for than being at British No. 1”
