Jack Draper hoping to 'tap into' Andy Murray for advice and 'opinions' after he retires from tennis
Published 20/05/2024 at 12:44 GMT+1
With Andy Murray's career coming to an end, will Jack Draper be the future of British men's tennis? The 22-year-old has said that he hopes that when Murray is retired from tennis, he will be able to lean on him for advice - and he expects he will "want to help". Murray and Draper are both playing the Geneva Open this week along with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Olympic moments: Murray triumphs at Rio 2016 to earn back-to-back golds
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Jack Draper has revealed he hopes to “tap into” Andy Murray for support and advice when he has retired from tennis.
Former world No. 1 Murray looks soon set to call time on his glittering career after saying he is unlikely to play beyond the summer.
Last year Murray and Draper shared an amusing car journey home after playing in the Davis Cup together for Great Britain.
But Draper soon plans to look to Murray for more serious guidance.
“It is going to be much easier to tap into him when he has finished,” Draper told the PA news agency.
“As a tennis player you don’t have time to think of anything but yourself. You are always thinking what you can do better.
“When he has stopped I will be contacting him a lot more, asking him for opinions on certain things, asking him what he has tried and if it has worked for him.
“I am definitely going to lean on Andy a lot and I am sure he will want to help me because he has always been very supportive of me.
“I think when he stops he will want to help more because he is not so focused on his own things.”
At 22 and ranked No. 35 in the world, Draper could be the future of British tennis.
But replacing Murray will be a seriously tough task given all he has achieved, which includes three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals, and time spent as world No. 1 in arguably the greatest era of men’s tennis.
“Andy has done so much for British tennis and so much for the sport in general, for me he is one of the greatest players of all time,” said Draper.
“He is going to have an unbelievable legacy and I do feel a responsibility to lead on from where he has been.
“I want to achieve so much in the sport, it is not all about winning, it is about inspiring kids to play and making people pick up a racket and knowing that tennis isn’t all just about playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon, it can be amazing for so many people in different ways.”
It won’t be long before attentions soon turn to Wimbledon, where Murray is a two-time winner.
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Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2013
Image credit: Getty Images
Draper is yet to make it past the second round at his home Slam but says it would be a “dream come true” to triumph on Centre Court.
“It would be incredible. There are not many people who get to do it but when I am working hard on a daily basis I often think about those moments and lifting up big trophies and being the player I want to be, that feeling is why I play.
“I don’t play for the money, I am not a very materialistic person. I want to be incredibly successful and achieve what I can in the sport.”
Murray and Draper, together with Novak Djokovic, are all playing at the Geneva Open this week ahead of the French Open, which starts on Sunday, May 26.
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