"Watching Carlos Alcaraz play Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final was frustrating" - Jack Draper on being inspired by his fellow youngsters on tour

21-year-old Jack Draper is currently ranked World No. 61, quite far away from others of his age like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune.

20-year-old Alcaraz, who finished the 2022 season as the top ranked ATP player, is now at No. 2, while Sinner, 22, made history by becoming the first Italian man to break into the top 5 and is now placed at No. 4. Rune, meanwhile, is the highest ranked Dane in ATP history, with a career-high World No. 4 ranking, even if the 20-year-old has fallen to World No. 8 now.

Seeing their rise has been inspiring for Draper as well, as admitted by the Brit himself during a recent conversation with Eurosport. The 21-year-old stated that he had huge respect and admiration for them and the hard work they have put into the sport over the years.

At the same time, he also had no qualms admitting that he was frustrated to see Carlos Alcaraz take on Novak Djokovic in the final at Wimbledon this year, a match the Spaniard went on to win in an impressive five-set marathon to record his second Grand Slam triumph.

Jack Draper, at the time, was suffering from a shoulder injury that made him skip his home Major, and watching Alcaraz play lights out tennis on the same stage only made the Brit miss the competition even more.

"There’s two sides to it. I am happy for them because they are great young players and I understand how much you have to put into the sport, especially at an early age. I have huge respect and admiration for what they are doing," Jack Draper said.

“On the other side I remember when I was injured with my shoulder and I was watching Carlos Alcaraz play Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and it was frustrating to see a young player out there achieving amazing things, because of the competitor I am," he added.

Jack Draper: "Carlos Alcaraz is in that position because he has put a hell of a lot of work in"

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Jack Draper does not agree with people saying that Carlos Alcaraz got "lucky" to get to the position that he is in today, and believes that the World No. 2 put in a "hell of a lot of work" for years on end to deserve his success.

The World No. 61 aspires to reach the same stage one day, using Alcaraz's success to fuel his inner fire and hopes to stay injury-free for the next few years so that he can go toe-to-toe against Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune more often.

"Some people look at that and make excuses and say ‘you know, he’s lucky because he’s in that position or whatever’, but I understand Carlos Alcaraz is in that position because he has put a hell of a lot of work in and he has done all the right things for many years."

“I think I can take a lot of inspiration and learn from a lot of things that these guys are doing, and really that fuels my fire to be in that position as well. It’s going to be interesting in the next couple of years if I can stay injury free and do all the right things to see if I can get up there with those guys," Jack Draper said.