THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 28, 2025

Jack Draper

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Jack, how are you fooling?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I feel good. So happy to be back here at Wimbledon. Good couple of days' practice. Feeling just in a good place, so looking forward to getting going here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What did you think of the draw? I know you look at the first match first. You have a really tough one with Sinner, Djokovic, Alcaraz if you want to win this title?

JACK DRAPER: I haven't looked at that at all. I look at my first round, who I have. I respect every person in the draw. Obviously I've got Baez on Tuesday, and I'm not looking further than that.

I know he's a strong player. He's here off his own merit. Yeah, I look no further than him. I try and think about that as I go on. But, firstly, we'll start with that one.

Q. You're struggling with tonsillitis in Queen's, but you still made a good run to the semifinals. You said you're feeling good. Are there any lingering effects in your physicality or game, or are you feeling in a good mindset?

JACK DRAPER: No, I feel good now. Queen's was a tough week for me, playing through that. I tried to give it my all. I wasn't able to find the tennis I wanted on the court or feel physically that great.

But to give myself a chance of making the final, I think was, in reflection, a really good effort. It was quite an emotionally taxing week, because I was trying to get so much out of myself.

I rested up for a couple of days. I trained. I played a match at Hurlingham. I feel much better now. I'm full of energy to try and find my best tennis this coming week.

Q. I remember last year you talked about having missed the year before and just being grateful to be there. Thinking now compared to where you were last year, how different does it feel coming in as such a high seed and everything you've achieved in the past 12 months?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I definitely feel like a very different player. I feel like personally I've grown a lot again since last year. I think it's a testament to the work I've done, to the people I have around me that have been with me through the ups and downs of my career so far.

I think I have a lot more belief in myself physically, also as a tennis player, mentally. I feel like I'm very different in all areas. Obviously I still feel I can improve so, so much. I'm nowhere near hopefully where I want to get to as a player. Always trying to improve.

But I'm happy to come here one year later with the amount of progress that I've made. I'm very proud of that, yeah.

Q. Obviously there will be a lot of attention on you. What do you do away from the court to stay grounded, take your mind off tennis?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I definitely try and switch off. I go back home. I watch a bit of Netflix, try and sleep, recover as best I can.

Obviously when I'm here or when I'm training, I'm completely dialed in on what I'm trying to do. But when I get away from it, I try and detach myself from it all to try and have the most energy to perform again the next day, 'cause that's what tennis is. It's kind of like a recovery sport. We've got to be able to show up and give our best every day. So that's important, just to detach.

So pretty boring really (smiling). Not a lot of interesting things. Just lying down.

Q. What do you watch on Netflix at the moment?

JACK DRAPER: Recently I watched... it wasn't on Netflix, it was on Paramount+... "MobLand." That was it. Very good. Tom Hardy, I liked.

Q. It's the first post-Andy Murray Wimbledon. I wonder how you bear the responsibility of being British No. 1 at Wimbledon and starting the post-Murray era. You may not think about it those terms, but people will view it that way. Do you think you have a responsibility to sell British tennis to Britain again?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, for sure. I think obviously when Andy retired, they said I was the next in line for that. I know it's Wimbledon coming up, but I think I didn't really think about it then, and I've improved so much and put myself in this position.

Kind of the same thing. I'll keep trying to do my best to keep try and improving, to show my best tennis out there, to hopefully present myself as the player and the person I want to be.

Obviously Andy has done an unbelievable job of that and has been incredibly successful and has become adored by the nation. It's obviously big shoes to fill. I'm aware of that. At the same time I'm confident in myself that hopefully I can inspire people like Andy has done, myself.

Q. As one of the home favorites, do you feel extra pressure? Does the home crowd give you that boost you need in tight moments?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I think the crowd is a huge source of energy, in all honesty. Obviously you guys have asked me a lot about the pressure and all that sort of stuff. I'm not thinking about that at all.

I'm thinking about how I can play my tennis out there. I'm aware that the crowd is going to really be behind me and support me and want me to drive forward in the tournament. That gives me a huge source of motivation to want to keep on trying to find my level and to try and beat these guys.

So I feel good. That's the only thing I can say.

Q. Earlier this year in Melbourne you talked about having a breathing coach and helping you with breathing and moments of anxiety. Are you still working with that breathing coach now?

JACK DRAPER: Yes.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about that and how it helps you?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, a bit like having a physio or an S&C. It was important for me in tennis where there's such small margins, such small percentages.

I started working with a lady called Ann Coxhead, who has a long career in sort of breathing, expertise in different sports, different projects she's done. She said she thought she could help me on the court.

The work I've done with her has been invaluable. It's been a real asset to my tennis. I think I'm still a work in progress with it, but definitely my physicality and my general well-being on the court has improved.

I look forward to continuing the work with her. It's definitely been a massive positive to my tennis. That's what I'd say.

Q. What sort of suggestions or advice have you received from any past players, whether it's Andy or Tim Henman or anybody else, about being in that position of someone at Wimbledon from Britain who is highly ranked, all the attention on you?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I haven't spoken to them too much, in all honesty, but I know they're there if I need them. Obviously, everyone has a different way of dealing with their emotions and dealing with things.

Obviously Andy has given me an amazing amount of feedback and advice over the years. I think one of the biggest things is everyone is on their different journey. Everyone, like I said, deals with things differently.

He also said he doesn't like to interfere. I saw in the press the other day he said that -- I think he's very reluctant to comment on anything to do with me because he understands what it's like to be in this position, to have people asking me stuff all the time about things.

I know Andy's right there for me if I need him anytime. There may come a point where I ask him a few things, and I'm sure he'll come back and be extremely helpful and supportive, as always.

Q. It's going to be pretty hot on Tuesday. You have struggled with the heat at times. London heat can be a bit different. Are you taking any steps differently or treating it any differently?

JACK DRAPER: No, not particularly. I think the stuff with the heat maybe when I was a bit younger was to do with the fact that I'm a British player. We're used to dealing with horrendous weather over here. It's so cold.

When you go out to the States on those hot trips, it's very difficult to be able to adapt straightaway. I've had a couple years on the tour now. I've dealt with a lot of hot environments and different conditions. Obviously it's something that all players struggle with in their way. It just how you deal with it.

I think in the past I haven't dealt with it incredibly well. So I have got my mechanisms on how I'm going to do that. It suits my game it being a bit hotter anyway. So that's the way I see it.

Q. From your perspective, what are the biggest mental challenges on the tour? What are your thoughts on what the tour does to help players with those mental challenges?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, I think the ATP have definitely got systems in place to help players from a mental side of view. I think each federation maybe has people, as well, that help.

I think the biggest challenge of being a tennis player is the constant relentlessness of the tour. I kind of sit here and people think tennis is all Wimbledon from the outside, but the truth is it never stops.

You have to be on top of your game. You have to be on top of your mentality. You have to stay injury-free, and that comes with a lot of stress and pressure I guess. Sometimes you want to just put your foot off the gas and take a break, but you can't in a sport like tennis. It's very difficult. I would say that's the most challenging thing about being on the tour.

Then again, it come with just incredible benefits, like playing the sport you love, earning great money, being around people that you want to spend time with. Even though it has a lot of challenges, I'm very grateful to live the life I live. I think I'm extremely lucky in so many ways.

Q. Over the past couple years you've talked a lot about your day-to-day work that you've done improving as a player. You've come to enjoy the process of improving, mentally and everything. Is that fair to say? What was the process to actually not only focus on the outcome but also just enjoying, relishing what you do?

JACK DRAPER: I think maturity, taking responsibility for my actions, for the way I see kind of that work. When I was younger, it's tough. My friends go to uni and doing what they do and having a good time. I suppose they have an extended period of their childhood or their time to have fun.

Whereas being a professional tennis player, you're sort of put into the that world of being an adult and working hard from such a young age. That for some people is easier than others.

For me it was a process and was definitely something I really struggled with at first. I think it got to the point where I was about 40 in the world, and I realized that I needed to sort my life outside of tennis out. I needed to take responsibility to have other things in my life going on, not just tennis, because if I'm going to play this sport for a very long period of time, I need to be able to detach from the world of tennis.

So yeah, I'd just say maturity, taking responsibility for my own life, and not always being guided by people. Obviously as a young athlete, you're always guided by people in what's best and what's the right thing to do, but it gets to the point where you need to start enjoying the life that you want to live and be the person you want to.

I suppose just growing up.

Q. You were announced to play with Qinwen Zheng at US Open mixed doubles. Alcaraz and Raducanu have been practicing. Have you had a chance to hit with Zheng? How do you look to get practice in ahead of US Open?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I think obviously very busy period. Like, I haven't been able to see her around too much. I think before we play, we'll definitely have to get a hit in, and maybe speak about what side we're going to play on, all those sort of things (laughter).

I think I'm really looking forward to playing mixed doubles with her. Obviously a great player. Seems really fun to be around. I haven't played much mixed doubles before, so I look forward to seeing what that's all about.

I think it's a great thing what the US Open have done and putting that forward, the list of names. You know, Emma/Alcaraz. It was stacked, wasn't it? I think it's going to be great fun for players and spectators.

Thank you, guys. Thank you.