“I doubt myself every day” – Draper shines light on relentless nature of tour life
The British No 1 reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open courtesy of Wednesday’s victory over Tommy Paul in the Spanish capital
Jack Draper, Madrid Open, 2025 © Zuma/Psnewz
Despite having just reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open for the first time, and sitting at a career-high ranking of sixth in the world after another milestone season so far, there was a striking moment of candour from Jack Draper in his post-match press conference.
Whether consciously or otherwise, the British No 1 revealed something that likely strikes a chord with many tennis players who ply their trade on the relentless and often gruelling tennis tours.
In the wake of recent eyebrow-raising comments from Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roberto Bautista Agut regarding questions around Carlos Alcaraz‘s commitment to becoming an all-time great, Draper was asked about his own relationship with the lifestyle sacrifices necessary to fulfil his highest potential.
The Briton’s response was refreshingly honest and remarkably revealing.
“I doubt myself every day. Can I keep going?” he responded, in reference to the unrelenting nature of life on the ATP Tour.
“There’s no denying I think that in any professional sport, but especially in tennis, it’s so relentless. We’re playing, we’re competing, we’re away from our families, we’re just sacrificing our lives. I think if you do this sport properly as well and give it everything every day, you know, it’s tough.”
For a player who recently won his maiden 1000-level title at the prestigious Indian Wells, has been making consistent and rapid strides up the rankings, and appears to have finally cracked the code on a body that took some time to adjust to the rigours of professional tennis, these comments reveal the often unseen difficulties that come with achieving success.
perspective, work ethic and commitment key to draper’s outlook
It is typical of his character, however, that Draper was quick to follow these admissions up with some perspective.
“If you want to be great then these are the things you have to do. It’s not like we’re… there’s much harder work out there, you know, putting things in perspective,” he continued.
“I do a sport I love, I get to travel with amazing people, earn good money. And, you know, it is really, really mentally challenging, physically challenging, but I think, yeah, I kind of, I enjoy that.
“So I don’t know how long I’ll play for, I don’t know if I’ll play until I’m in the mid 30s, I don’t know when I’ll play to, so I’m just going to try and make the best out of my career, hopefully try and fulfil my potential.”
While candid in his admission that an almost non-stop calendar causes constant doubts over how long he can keep going, Draper’s entire outlook is quite clearly grounded in putting in the hardest work he can in order to maximise his potential. This is starkly evident in the progress he has made over the past two years.
This isn’t a player anyone should worry about in that regard.
“I know that in order to do that, then I need to give everything,” was perhaps Draper’s most telling conclusion.
