Deborah Curtis-Setchell
The absence of GOAT, Novak Djokovic and subsequent last minute withdrawal of World No 1, Jannik Sinner, from the prestigious Paris Masters, has ignited the self belief of a host of young players, over and above the last contenders for ATP Final qualification, that they can push further, as a result. Top of the list of Next Gen to impress, has been Britain’s 21 year old Jack Draper, who burst onto the scene as a wildcard, at Wimbledon in 2021, taking a set off Djokovic, the ultimate champion in their opening round, before succumbing. The Serb hadn’t lost a set at Wimbledon in almost a decade. By 2022, Draper had risen more than 150 places in the ATP rankings to within the Top 100, hailed as “Murray’s heir” and stealing WTA Emma Raducanu’s thunder, as the British No 1 to watch. After winning his first ATP title in Vienna last week, Draper has now reached a career high No 14 and is no reluctant debutant, vowing on the back of his big win to “shake up the current ‘Big Two’, namely Sinner and World No 2, Carlos Alcaraz.
His good looks- he’s signed up with IMG models- success and quick succession have drawn obvious comparisons with former British No 1, Raducanu, who became the Centre Court darling after winning the 2021 US Open, but achieved little thereafter. Draper himself, despite also battling injuries, made the US Open Semis on debut, however he’s emphasised, there is no comparison: “This is not like an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time, that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right thing and that my time would come.” Perhaps the one salient factor about Draper, is he has shown consistency off the court as well as on it, in keeping his coaching team intact, for long periods of time- as have Alcaraz and Sinner- unlike Raducanu, who has adopted a revolving door approach to at least five different coaches, post her Major win.
The British No 1, with 7 straight wins under his belt, has certainly impressed this week in Paris, taking down the ever dangerous Czech, Jiri Lehecka, .7-6, 6-2, followed by US Open Finalist, Taylor Fritz, the most recent to confirm his spot in those looming ATP Finals,7-6(6),4-6,6-4. Draper then ran out of steam against red hot, 9th seed, Alex De Minaur, 5-7, 2-6, 4-6, the Australian no doubt pumped up, by the extraordinary success of his compatriots, Jordon Thompson and Alexei Popyrin, who respectively caused major upsets, in slaying former Top 10, Casper Ruud and current No 5, Daniil Medvedev, thereby dramatically ripping open the field. Key to Popyrin’s victory on this occasion was his 31/46 net points won versus the Russian baseliner’s 9/14 and those aggressive tactics are being emulated by other young guns with equal success:
French wild card, Mpetshi Perricard felled American Frances Tiafoe in Round 1, 6-7 (5)7-6(4), 6-3. Meanwhile 18 year old French rising star, Arthur Fils became the youngest Frenchman to win a match at the Paris Masters in defeating Jan- Lenard Struff, before falling to World No 4, Alexander Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. With French patriotism palpable in the Accor Arena, umpire, Richard Haigh, had his hands full in keeping the decibel level under control, as yet another buoyant Frenchman, Hugo Humbert raised his play to Halloween heights and caused the biggest ‘bouleversement’ of a week littered with them, in sending Wimbledon champion, Alcaraz, prematurely packing. Thus the door is now wide open to not only lift this trophy, but also to skid into the Turin Finals, for those top seeds through to the Last Eight- namely Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex De Minaur.