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Jack Draper gives his verdict on Carlos Alcaraz after beating him on grass in 2024

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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Jack Draper can be extremely proud of his 2024 season, during which he reached a Grand Slam semi-final and reached a career-high ranking.

Patrick Mouratoglou thinks Draper can reach the top 10, with the British number one having just made it to 15th in the world rankings.

Draper achieved that thanks to a fantastic season, where he won two titles and made it all the way to the US Open semi-finals.

He won the Stuttgart Open and Vienna Open on grass and hard courts respectively, and ended the year with a 39-22 win-loss record.

Draper overcame injury issues to shine on the court, with his run in New York a particular high point in his promising career.

TENNIS-USA-OPEN
Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Jack Draper shares Carlos Alcaraz verdict after Queen’s win

The Briton is now looking ahead to another strong season in 2025, with Draper having confirmed his presence at Queen’s.

He enjoyed superb success at the tournament last time out with a win over Carlos Alcaraz, with the 22-year-old now looking back on that round of 16 victory.

“Yeah I mean I think it was like just a really busy 10 days, obviously coming off my first title, and then sort of catching the flight with all the emotions of winning there and the next day was straight into training, and then match the next day,” Draper told the LTA.

READ MORE: Greg Rusedski states where he thinks Jack Draper could be ranked at the end of the 2025 season

“And then obviously playing Carlos, there was a bit of attention on that match. I played him twice before, once was really close and then the other time I was a bit injured, so I wasn’t able to really see.

“But obviously he’s a young guy, he’s an amazing talent, so good for the sport. To go up against him at Queen’s, home crowd, home environment was unbelievable. It was obviously his first tournament on grass after winning the French [Open] so you’ve got to keep that in mind that it is a grass court as well.

“But it was an amazing experience and I thought I played a good match and yeah obviously he went on to win Wimbledon so fair play him.”

Jack Draper beats Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at Queen’s

Draper stormed past second seed Alcaraz at Queen’s earlier this summer, with the Spaniard having won the competition a year earlier.

He returned to number one in the rankings with that first grass-court title, but saw his title defence come to an abrupt end at the hands of the home favourite.

READ MORE: Why losing three matches on the spin was the ‘best thing’ that ever happened to Jack Draper

Draper had clinched a round of 32 win over Mariano Navone to set up the meeting with Alcaraz, but the Briton failed to ride the wave beyond that with a quarter-final exit.

YearWinnerTournamentRoundSurface
2024Jack DraperLondon / Queen’s ClubRound of 16Outdoor Grass
2023Carlos AlcarazATP Masters 1000 Indian WellsRound of 16Outdoor Hard
2022Carlos AlcarazBaselRound of 32Indoor Hard
Jack Draper v Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head (ATP Tour)

He fell to Tommy Paul, although there was no shame in losing to the American, who went on to win his first grass-court title.

Draper will now be eager for a stronger run on home soil next time out, with another big upset on the cards, with the Briton having beaten Jannik Sinner at the 2021 event for the first singles win of his career.