How Jack Draper is plotting the destruction of Carlos Alcaraz

QUEEN’S — Andy Murray is not the only one growing tired of hearing the word “retirement”.

In tennis, the word can mean two things, either the more permanent hanging up of one’s racket or a mid-match withdrawal through injury. Murray has already admitted he will probably be doing the former later this year, but for Jack Draper it is the latter that he wants to put firmly behind him.

In his short professional career, the new British No 1 has already pulled out of 14 matches through injury on stages ranging from an anonymous court in Abuja to Flushing Meadows and Roland Garros.

It was in Paris last year that Draper, now 22, dejectedly told reporters he hated “being the guy who is injured a lot”, vowing to find a way to bolster his injury-stricken frame.

Only a few months earlier, he had been battling Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells when a stomach muscle problem forced him to retire, drawing the concession afterwards that “this body aspect is going to take a bit of time”.

Now, ahead of his latest meeting with the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion, Draper says he is finally ready.

“I can’t wait to get on court with Carlos,” Draper said, having not played the Spaniard for 15 months.

“Since two years ago now, I have changed massively emotionally, physically, my game identity.”

The “game identity” he is referring too is wrapped up in the desire to be injured less; a more aggressive approach to points, trying to finish them early, puts less pressure on his body.

“Trying to play more like a 6ft4in player” is how he describes it, trying to abandon the grinding that undersized Draper the junior had made his trademark before a severe growth spurt helped turned him into the imposing figure he cuts today.

Achieving that game, and the fitness levels required to underpin it, has been the work of a whole team, but probably most importantly two new arrivals in the Draper camp: Steve Kotze and Wayne Ferreira.

Kotze has an impressive CV that includes getting South Africa’s formidable fast bowlers into shape and working with the great Andy Murray. He joined Draper at the end of last season to oversee his preparations for 2024, adding the British youngster to his list of tennis players trained, including Kyle Edmund, Laura Robson, Dan Evans and Anne Keothavong.

His sessions made, seemingly, an immediate difference, Draper winning his first five-set match earlier this year and racking up the two longest victories of his career this season.

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The other new arrival Ferreira, a former top-10 player and a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, has been tasked with more tennis-related tasks, alongside long-time coach James Trotman.

“Trots” as almost everyone calls him has been a guiding light in Draper’s accession to British No 1, but there has been no ego or power struggle with Ferreira’s arrival.

“It’s working incredibly well,” Draper said.

“[James] is away from his family all the time on the road with me. So it’s important that we have someone to share the load.

“Wayne was someone who really believed in my tennis and believed that if I did certain things differently, then I can really rise to the top of the game.

“We are at the start of the journey with Wayne. Obviously me and Trots have been together for three years now, and we have done incredible work, and it’s just getting another pair of eyes, another opinion that’s important.

“I feel like in sport there is a lot of egos. A lot of coaches wouldn’t maybe want another coach to come onboard and talk differently or whatever, but I feel like we all share the same vision for my tennis.”

Draper’s best surface is grass because it is where two of weapons are sharpest: the huge left-handed serve that slides away from returners and a top-10 backhand that skips through the court. But even having won his maiden title last week in Stuttgart, he is without a real statement win on grass. Ferreira is no stranger to plotting the downfall of top players: one of his celebrated achievements was back-to-back wins over Roger Federer in 2001.

Alcaraz is not Federer, and Federer is not Alcaraz, but the impact of victory for Draper on Thursday would be similar: it’s time for the new and improved Jack Draper to stamp his name on tennis.