Jack Draper Warned About 'Skipping Steps' After Big Indian Wells Win
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Jack Draper might have won the Indian Wells Open, but that doesn't mean he will now challenge for every title.
Draper has been one of the more talented players on the ATP Tour for some time, but injuries have always kept him away from fully showing his potential. He finally did that in Indian Wells this year, winning the title.
It was the biggest win of Draper's career, and it catapulted him into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. However, what followed was a surprising loss to Jakub Mensik in the second round of the Miami Open.
Ultimately, Mensik ended up winning the tournament in Miami, but Draper's early loss was still a surprise. It seemed that he became one of the favorites to win all the events that he enters practically overnight, and that's usually not how this sport works.
Former ATP World No. 1 player, Andy Roddick, wrote about Draper in his recent column for Betway. The former American player explained that it's important not to "skip steps," as the young Brit still has plenty of space to grow.
"Jack Draper was phenomenal in Indian Wells. He’s improved so much with his fitness, his backhand and a lot of other areas. People get into lazy narratives just because he has a big lefty serve, but he was breaking serve all the time and that’s something that he’s improved upon. His return position in Indian Wells was like from where Rafa [Nadal] used to return."
"I love Draper’s process and I love the way he’s working, but I don’t like to skip steps so I wouldn’t say that he’s definitely proven himself as a top player. If I’m him, I’m going, 'OK, I’ve proven I can beat everyone in the world. I’ve beaten Alcaraz in a tournament that he loves, I’ve made the semis of a major.'"
Roddick himself knows what it means to have a proper breakthrough. The 42-year-old American knows that it takes time to fully gain self-belief, something Draper started doing already at the Australian Open this year.
"That big breakthrough is often making your first really deep run in a Slam and dealing with the physicality of five sets. It was probably 2003 Australia for me, where I won back-to-back, monster five-setters and came back from two sets and a break down."
"Believing in your body and knowing that it can stay there, and you’re not having to compromise decision making to shorten points, that’s a big deal. You can’t force belief, but I’ve got to think it’s starting to come in at a pretty accelerated rate for Draper."
"In Australia this year, getting through those five-setters when he wasn’t even playing his best shows his body can withstand the wear and tear of three-out-of-five, which maybe we didn’t know before."
"Now, is clay going to be a place where he thrives? We don’t know. But as we approach the French Open he’s certainly in the area of that top five in the next tier right below Jannik Sinner, and for my money there’s no reason why he can’t establish himself there further."
