Jack Draper has expressed his admiration for fellow tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, describing him as an “incredible” player for whom he has a great deal of respect. Draper has been impressed with Alcaraz’s achievements so far and aims to use him as inspiration to raise his own game in the future. In a recent interview with Tennis Majors, he praised the Spaniard’s mentality and physicality, which he sees as a benchmark for his own aspirations.
Jack Draper on Carlos Alcaraz as a benchmark
Draper shared that Alcaraz is someone he aspires to reach parity with, both in terms of tennis skills and mental and physical attributes. “I have huge respect for him. He’s obviously an incredible player. What he’s done already in tennis is is pretty, pretty incredible, not not only just his tennis, but his physicality, his mentality. I see him as more of a benchmark of that’s where I want to be week in, week out,” the 21-year-old said. Draper, ranked World No. 56, has lost both of his ATP Tour matches against Alcaraz thus far and hopes to improve enough to be more competitive against the reigning US Open champion in the future.
Draper’s experience playing against Alcaraz
Discussing his experiences playing against Alcaraz, Draper admitted that one cannot fully appreciate Alcaraz’s skill until facing him on the court. “I want to be able to compete with him and hopefully, win against him. Full respect, he’s an incredible player. And I don’t think you can quite appreciate it until you play against him,” Draper said.
Recalling their meeting at Indian Wells
The pair’s most recent match took place at Indian Wells in March, where Draper had to withdraw due to injury midway through the second set. Despite acknowledging it was a “bit of a shame,” Draper admitted that even if he had been fully fit, the level of tennis Alcaraz displayed that night was something he had never encountered before. “Yeah, it was a bit of a shame in Indian Wells. I hurt my ab at the end of the Andy (Murray) match and that was obviously going to affect me… But I think even if I was OK and fit, the level that was coming at me that day on the court was something that I hadn’t really experienced much on a tennis court before,” he said.
