Draper claims Italy, Spain and France “love tennis a lot more” than UK
Jack Draper talked about British tennis after eliminating American Taylor Fritz from the 2025 Indian Wells Masters
© Action Plus / Psnewz
Jack Draper feels his fellow citizens are less involved in tennis than the Italians, Spaniards and French. He claimed the same after knocking Taylor Fritz out of the 2025 Indian Wells Masters on Wednesday.
Draper, the No 17 seed, downed Fritz in straight sets (7-5, 6-4) to qualify for the quarter-finals at Tennis Paradise. He will have Ben Shelton, another American to take down for a spot in the semis of the inaugural Masters 1000 event of the calendar year.
Talking about British tennis after the match, the world No 14 acknowledged Andy Murray’s effort in inspiring a generation of tennis players from the land of Wimbledon.
“I mean, I think England, we obviously have Wimbledon,” he said during his post-match presser. “That’s, you know, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. I’d say for three weeks of the year we are massively into tennis. I think we have been extremely fortunate obviously to have Andy Murray and other players who have really shown me the way and inspired me to be a top player in myself.”
However, Draper suggested that European countries like Italy, Spain and France are doing a better job promoting the racquet sport:
“I’d say our actual culture for tennis isn’t huge in the UK. Obviously other tennis nations, you know, I think have it better with Italy and Spain and France. They love tennis a lot more than we do as a nation, but I think, you know, hopefully with what’s to come with the grass and hopefully players like myself and Emma and other top players coming through that we can really put on a good show and inspire a lot of people to play.”
