“That’s when the penny dropped that I really needed to change” – Draper on pivotal moment that led to change in his mentality

Great Britain’s Jack Draper has had a breakthrough season in 2024. The 22-year-old reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open and won his first two ATP Tour singles titles, climbing all the way to No 15 after being ranked outside the top 100 last September.

In an interview with The Guardian, the left-hander talked about the pivotal moment, a shoulder injury that ruled him out of last year’s entire grass season, that led to a change in his mentality and a decision at this end to make a change to become better and grow.

I didn’t want to put in hard work. I didn’t want to sacrifice. I didn’t want to be professional..

“When I was younger, I didn’t really have much of a working mentality,” Draper said in the interview. “When you’re young, you step into the world of tennis and you don’t really know what it’s all about. It’s a brutal change, because you realise that if you want to be good, you have to mature and be an adult when you’re 20 years old. I wasn’t quite ready for that; I didn’t want to put in hard work. I didn’t want to sacrifice. I didn’t want to be professional. I didn’t want to do all the things it takes.”

“That’s when the penny dropped that I really needed to change. I’m very, very proud of the way I took it upon myself to really be different and I’ve got a lot of rewards from those decisions. A lot of good things have come from just trying to really take it upon myself to be better and grow, be a better person, be more independent and just more of a man.”

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