Despite having the usual physical issues in the second half of the season, Jack Draper's 2025 can still be considered a brilliant year. The young English ace who had already surprised fans and insiders with his improvements in the latter part of 2024 (also reaching his first semifinal in a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open) had a further rise earlier this year by winning his first Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, thanks to a run bordering on perfection in which he also beat Carlos Alcaraz (who had not lost in California since 2022, when he was defeated by his illustrious compatriot Rafael Nadal in the semifinals).
He made his entry into the Top 5 for the first time in his career and several experts praised his potential, believing that he could be the most valid threat to the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlitos Alcaraz. However, his performances at Roland Garros and especially at the Wimbledon Championships did not live up to expectations, until an arm injury forced him to miss both American Masters 1000 during the summer.
Jackhas played two tournaments sinceWimbledon
Jack stopped at that time and recovered in time for the US Open, the last Major of the season, where he was called upon to defend the previous year's semifinal, but had to retire after passing the first round because the pain in his arm had become unbearable. A few days later, he announced the early end of his year and made an appointment for 2026.
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In a recent interview with 'Sky Sports', top analyst and former WTA star Laura Robson praised Draper's improvements: I think hes playing even more aggressively and using his strengths more. It was an area he was working on during the off-season, knowing when to try and come forward.
Its not something that weve seen from him over the years and to do it on multiple surfaces, making the final of Madrid, playing the same sort of brand of tennis as we saw in Indian Wells and to see him find that belief, that inner confidence that you need to challenge the best in the world hes been building to it.
