Andy Murray has a successor and ‘he will be best British player for years’

Jack Draper came of age on Sunday as he won his first ATP title in Stuttgart, a feat that inaugurates his place as British No 1 with impeccable timing with Wimbledon just a fortnight away.

Draper, 22, was already guaranteed to overtake Cam Norrie in the rankings after reaching the final in Germany but can now celebrate the achievement in style after beating Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.

In doing so, he became the 13th Brit to win a tour title and rise to the top of the national standings for the first time in his career.

“He’s gonna be the best British player for a long time,” Frances Tiafoe, whom Draper beat in the quarter-finals, tells i.

“I hope he keeps going and keeps working. He’s a good dude.”

Draper’s accession to British No 1 for the first time could not have come at a more serendipitous moment given the current form of his Olympic team-mates.

The man he has overtaken, Norrie, is in danger of slipping out of the top 40 after a first-round exit from the French Open and a bad week in Nottingham, shocked by world No 773 Jack Pinnington Jones; Andy Murray has made no secret of his desire to retire after this summer; and Dan Evans has only won three tour-level matches all year.

“I’ve always wanted to be a top player in the world and I knew that hopefully what came with that was being British No 1, after all the guys who have come before me who are incredible players and obviously are still in the mix as well,” Draper said.

“British No 1 or not, nothing changes. I keep on going with my goal to be a top, top player in the world. And I’m ready for what comes to me and like I said, it’s a real honour to be in that position and hopefully I can be the No 1 for many years to come.”

He is the youngest British No 1 since Murray, who first claimed top spot in 2006 at the age of 19.

Murray, now 37, has been a regular hitting partner and sometime mentor to Draper.

“Andy’s always been amazing with me in giving me advice,” Draper added.

“He sees the work I do behind the scenes and he knows it’s good work so he’s always been very positive to me.”

The Scot added his congratulations to those from around the world from his practice session at Queen’s, where he hit with the deposed Norrie, although Murray reckons Draper has much further to grow.

“Everyone is different in the things that motivate them, Jack, I think has bigger goals to aspire to than being the British No 1,” Murray said.

“In my opinion he can get up to the top of the game, to the top of the world rankings.”

He added: “He genuinely loves his sport, he’s really into it, he works very, very hard.

“I think the grass is a brilliant surface for him, I think he’ll do really well over the years on the surface.”

With Wimbledon just two weeks’ away, it will be all eyes on Draper to carry British hopes.

“His leftie serve is really good, especially on grass. It kind of slides away,” adds Tiafoe, who has a pretty mean serve himself and reckons Draper is one of the best grass-court players in the world.

“I think that was the biggest thing that paid dividends. He served at an elite level.”

After his win over Tiafoe, Draper saw off Brandon Nakashima in straight sets before beating Berrettini to complete the best week of his professional career.

Draper revealed afterwards that a revelatory moment in practice with coach James Trotman had been the key to his German resurgence from first-round defeat at Roland Garros.

A shoulder injury suffered at the French Open in 2023 “got me used to serving at 70 to 80 per cent”, which hampered the aggression which he has been trying to introduce to his game this season.

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“It wasn’t till I was with my coach James last week, and he said ‘I want you to hit the serve as hard as you possibly can, with no legs’. It was almost like my arm was faster than my serve with the legs,” Draper said.

“I don’t want to be a defensive player anymore. I want to be someone who goes out and takes command of the court and plays like a top player, and plays like a guy who’s six foot four, instead of a guy who is five foot six.

“Ultimately it’s a change in mindset, a penny drop moment where it’s like ‘I need to change and I’m willing to do what what is necessary’.”

The shoulder injury in question ruled him out of Wimbledon last year, a bitter pill to swallow for a London native, but it does mean he has no points to “defend”, making progress up the rankings all the easier.

A win or two at Queen’s would virtually guarantee that Draper will be seeded at Wimbledon. His opening round against grass-court novice Mariano Navone should be straightforward enough, but he is slated to face French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, the kind of player he could avoid if he cements a place in the top 32 this week.

“This year, I’ve played a lot of players in big events in the first round, second round, top 10 in the world, top 15, and it’s been really hard to get going in these tournaments,” Draper said.

“Obviously everyone in the draw can play amazing tennis, we all know that, but it [seeding] does give you a bit of protection that you won’t play, say, Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner.

“It’s a big achievement, a big goal of mine to be seeded in Wimbledon, and hopefully I can have a good run there.”