Jack Draper is proud to have cracked the top-100 ahead of his return to Queen’s Club.
The 20-year-old is back at the cinch Championships looking to build on his quarter-final appearance last summer, which proved the catalyst for a fine 12 months where the Briton has won numerous ATP Challenger titles and risen in the rankings.
Draper will officially become the world number 99 on Monday and has compatriot Dan Evans to thank after his victory over Marc-Andrea Huesler on Friday ensured the Swiss ace could not leapfrog the British number four.
Speaking ahead of facing fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Monday, the wildcard said: “I have been working hard all my tennis career to get to the top-100.
“Obviously I want to go further but when you are younger people say to get to the top-100 would be amazing. It is definitely amazing achievement for me.
“I think I have Dan Evans to thank for that because he beat one of the guys who was maybe going to push me out. It is a good achievement, I am proud of myself and I can use it as confidence moving forward.”
It was Draper’s run to the last eight in West Kensington last June which saw the big-serving left-hander earn a wildcard into Wimbledon where he took a set off Novak Djokovic on his way to a first-round defeat on Centre Court.
Victories over Jannik Sinner and Alexander Bublik at Queen’s backed up the belief shared by many that the Londoner is one to watch.
Draper added: “It was massively important. It was the first time I had beat two top-50 players, especially Sinner because he is my age group and one of the best in the world at my age.
“Again, it gave me a lot of confidence and experiences going into this year which will help me for sure.”
It has not been all plain-sailing for Draper, who had to pull out of French Open qualifying due to a hamstring strain and admitted to feeling “rusty” in the Surbiton Trophy last month.
Draper spent time with Andy Murray at Surbiton and has been this week hitting with Cameron Norrie with the trio among seven Britons involved at Queen’s – the most homegrown players in the main draw since 1996.
“Being able to see their habits and how they hold themselves on a daily basis is important. As a young player it gives me loads of lessons,” he admitted.
