Jack Draper has continued his impressive start to the 2025 season after an emphatic victory over Tommy Paul at the Madrid Open.
Draper won Indian Wells last month to elevate himself to a new status on the ATP Tour, becoming a top 10 player for the first time.
However, there were questions over how Draper would be able to transition to clay, a surface that he is still relatively inexperienced on.
After Draper practised with Jannik Sinner, this appears to have helped him adapt to the surface for the Madrid Open.
Jack Draper explains why he was fired up to play Tommy Paul at the Madrid Open
Prior to their fourth round match at the Madrid Open, Draper led the head-to-head with the aforementioned Paul.
However, Draper had lost to Paul in their most recent meeting on the grass courts at Queen’s Club last year.
After beating Paul, 6-2 6-2, in just 69 minutes, Draper told Tennis Channel that his previous defeat to the American had him fired up in Madrid.
“It was really clinical,” Draper said about his performance. “I knew against Tommy that if you allow him to play the tennis that he can, he is one of the top players in the world. His ranking shows that and his results also show that as well.
“He got me last time and I was really fired up for today. I knew it was going to be a tough challenge and just really happy with the way that I competed and played and ultimately that I executed.
Jack Draper explains how he has improved his fitness over the past year
Despite his potential being well documented, there had been many questions over Draper’s physicality in recent years.
These concerns were raised once again, after Draper retired against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open due to a hip injury.
However, since recovering from that issue Draper has been able to compete without appearing to have any physical issues, something that he explained has been a big focus of his away from the matchcourt.
“I think in the last 12 months that is somewhere I have really developed,” said Draper. “My fitness I have worked really hard off the court and I just feel more set in myself.
“I feel like I know my game style a lot more and I am trying to be aggressive and dominate the play.”
Draper has won 17 of his 21 matches in 2025 (81%), with only the aforementioned Alcaraz having a higher winning percentage on the ATP Tour (82.8%).
The Briton will look to continue his Madrid Open run against his quarter-final opponent Matteo Arnaldi, who beat Novak Djokovic in the second round.
If Draper is able to beat Arnaldi, he will overtake Djokovic in the live rankings at a career-high of world number five.
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