Last Halloween, Jack Draper was en route to winning the modest Bergamo Challenger and inching his ranking from 91 to 82.
As the pumpkin carving begins this year Draper collected another trophy in another great European city, but this time it was the far more prestigious Vienna Open and he arose this morning as the world No15.
It is the biggest title of Draper’s career, won by beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5, and afterwards he vowed that 2025 will be the year he hunts down Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
He also looked back to Bergamo and, when asked what force has fired his startling rise in the 12 months since then, he replied: anger.
‘Tennis is brutal,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘I got injured for a couple of months, my ranking completely dropped and I was back playing Challengers. I felt angry. I wasn’t happy with where I was at. I was working hard but things weren’t clicking.
Jack Draper beat Russian Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5 to win the Vienna Open on Sunday
Draper, 22, rose to No15 in the world rankings after his stunning tournament win in Austria
The Vienna Open victory marks Draper’s (left) biggest win of his burgeoning career to date
‘I took a lot of motivation from watching players in these big events and I knew if I could just get my body and my mind in a good place, then my tennis is good enough to play the best players in the world.
‘I won my first title in Stuttgart and it has been a snowball effect since then.’
That win in Stuttgart in June made Draper the British No1 but, as Andy Murray almost angrily commented, being the best player in these islands should be far from the limit of young Jack’s ambitions.
He made a first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open – only stopped by an attack of vomiting and eventual champion Sinner – and here was another milestone: a second ATP title and at the 500 level, just below the Masters events.
‘The US Open was huge to start really believing I belonged at the highest level, that I am good enough to compete with the top players in the world and win these matches. I have visualised these moments and really tried to believe I’m good enough to be here.’
Draper is a modest soul but that quiet self-belief is growing by the week. With the season almost over – Draper will likely end his year after this week’s Paris Masters, he plays Czech Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday – he looked ahead to 2025.
‘I’m really happy with my progress this year. I’ll focus on next week and then I’m going to look forward to having a bit of time off and not thinking about tennis because it has been a long year and it has taken a lot out of me.
‘I’ll refresh and go against next year with an even bigger motivation to chase those guys at the top of the game, the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz.’
As Draper said, his body has sustained a few blows in what has effectively been his first full season on the tour, and this title looked unlikely after an abdominal injury in Tokyo last month.
But he played his way into the week and, come the final, was far too good for Khachanov, himself on a run of eight victories in a row after his title in Almaty, Khazakstan.
From 5-4 in the first set, Draper effectively took the match away by winning 20 of the next 23 points and five games in a row. Khachanov fought a good rearguard but Draper closed out from 5-5.
Draper wants to set sights on tennis’ biggest stars, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
World No24 Karen Khachanov played a sound game but Draper was simply too much for him
‘I knew coming here I was on good form but I wasn’t too sure how my body was,’ acknowledged Draper. ‘I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved this week.’
In the semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti, Draper used his big forehand to pummel the Italian’s single-handed backhand. Then against Khachanov he performed a volte face, redirecting his guns to the Russian’s forehand wing.
To execute such different gameplans in consecutive matches shows how clearly Draper is thinking right now – and how expertly his team, led by coach James Trottman, is composing his tactics.
![Draper said he'll 'focus on next week and then [will] look forward to having a bit of time off'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/27/20/91347559-14008459-image-a-46_1730061656954.jpg)
Draper said he’ll ‘focus on next week and then [will] look forward to having a bit of time off’
The first serve was incredibly good, with 69 per cent in and 80 per cent of those points won. From what Draper said afterwards, it sounds as though tweaks to his service motion made under the auspices of Wayne Ferreira, when he briefly joined the coaching team this summer, have been abandoned.
‘My serve has really developed the last month or so,’ said Draper. ‘I did a few changes and it didn’t really work so I’ve worked on my ball toss, got my rhythm sorted, and found a real golden (method). Hopefully I can keep that consistently.’
The tinkering continues: the calibrations to mind, game and body, the incremental progress towards the highest level.
This was another important staging post in Draper’s career and, once this week’s event in Paris is complete, he will look ahead to 2025 with great expectations.
