During the typically chaotic media day before Wimbledon in June, Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper were working through their commitments when they briefly crossed paths in the broadcast media mixed zone. As they warmly greeted each other, Sinner looked his good friend up and down, and a smile spread across his face: “Always stronger,” he said, jokingly flexing both arms.
Draper, who responded with a sheepish, embarrassed laugh, has heard such observations many times in recent months. At the same time that he has risen up the rankings over the past 15 months, transforming himself into one of the best in the world, he has become one of the most physically strong players on the ATP Tour.
At 6ft 4in (193cm), Draper has always stood as an imposing figure on the court, but more recently he has filled out into a more muscular athlete. This evolution has coincided with his decision to enlist the services of the strength and conditioning coach Matt Little and the physio Shane Annun, both of whom worked for many years with Andy Murray until his retirement.
Draper is insistent that his increased size has been a natural consequence of his physical maturation with age rather than a concerted attempt to gain more muscle. “I’m growing out instead of up now,” he said.
“So I’ve definitely got that body type where I can get really strong quite quick. And I think when you train really hard with your legs, it also goes up the chain as well. I’m definitely getting stronger all the time.”
Draper describes Little as the best strength and conditioning coach with whom he has worked, but he notes that he has been working hard on his physicality for a long time. Many afternoons at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton have been dedicated to brutal sessions on the VersaClimber, with Draper estimating that he has completed nearly 50 sessions this year.
There have been no-arm days “because I don’t want to get too big” and although his recent forearm injury allowed him to spend significant time in the gym during his injury layoff over the past seven weeks, those sessions have been tennis specific.
“I don’t do bench press. I’m not training to be Mr Olympia,” he said. “But you do a few different exercises here and there, tennis specific. I think that’s the thing, when people see athletes and they’re like: ‘Oh, they must have been in the gym.’ Sometimes, we’re still young, and we’re still just developing, and if you don’t see us for two months, there’s going to be development happening. So always make sure that I’m not doing anything that’s risky or going to jeopardise the fact that I can play.”
Draper arrived in New York without having played a match for more than seven weeks after being diagnosed with bone bruising in his left humerus. After a four-set win over Federico Agustin Gomez in the first round on Monday he had feared he would be pushing the expected recovery time of eight weeks.
“The arm for me is not a question mark,” he said. “It’s more been my preparation for the tournament, how quickly am I going to be able to get back to playing top level on the hard courts, like I was at the start of the year. It was never going to be perfect and match by match I’m going to grow in confidence.
“I’m never someone who has lots of expectations on myself anyway. I’m someone who goes match by match and usually, because of my preparation, because of different things, it works out. I’d never enter one of these tournaments if I was here just to play a couple of matches – I wouldn’t play. I’m here to hopefully go a long way in this draw and I believe I can still.”
In addition to more people paying attention to his physical gains, Draper is also coming to terms with the increased attention and interest in his career. Before Wimbledon, he had his first experience with paparazzi taking photos of him while at a petrol station. Draper used this subject to offer an impassioned defence of his secondhand Volkswagen Polo, which featured prominently in the photos.
“Didn’t know about it. I think a few people said to me, like: ‘Why are you driving that piece of shit?’ But I’ve never really been into cars,” Draper said, smiling. “I’m not really that materialistic with stuff. I think with most people, when they get a bit of money, they buy a car, you know? But for me, I don’t know. I just love my secondhand Polo, you know? I just love racing it around. That’s probably the wrong word, because you only do 20 [mph] in London, but I love my car.”
During Wimbledon the British player Jack Pinnington Jones, who used to be ferried by Draper to the Roehampton centre early in the morning each day, said Draper does not treat his car very well. He did not deny the accusation: “Well, it’s my brother’s car as well so maybe I have to be a bit careful what I say,” he said, laughing. “But put it this way, if it does get a little knock, then I’m not going to be crying about it.”
