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his side profile is very important to me 💎

Jack Draper is, as far as I'm aware, the only man to have ever performed a body-popping routine on a Wimbledon show court. The occasion was the 2018 boys singles final, and it was the first time I saw. Draper - then a slim, rangy 16-year-old - strike a tennis ball. Naturally right-handed, he played as a leftie and seemed to crush forehands off both sides. But it was his swagger that stayed with me, and probably many of the 10,000 spectators on Wimbledon's Court One. He didn't win the title, against Taiwanese top seed Tseng Chun-hsin, but the body-popping - busted out after Draper theatrically saved a match point - suggested he was very much at home at the world's most famous tennis tournament. "I saw a video of that the other day, and half of me was cringing, and then the other half was like, 'You know what! It was amazing, because I was just very free, and I was really enjoying the moment," recalls Draper, when we speak in May. It is the day after he was photographed in a Burberry car coat with some nonplussed-looking waterfowl for this issue. Back to Junior Wimbledon 2018: "It's weird, because I'm not like that at all in any way. Maybe I am, maybe I lost that over time, I don't know. But it was nice to see it. At that point, I felt amazing about a lot of things and that showed out on the court." — Esquire UK July - August 2026

Murray, on a rare trip to Queen’s Club, told SunSport: “Jack is supposed to be playing in Eastbourne next week."

“He’s been training and getting ready for that. He’s been on the court most days for the last few weeks."

“His tennis is bloody good. But he’s obviously had lots of issues the last year with the various injuries. And I feel like he’s starting to come out the other side of that now. The next step is getting on the match court and getting a consistent run of tournaments and weeks under him, and building trust again in his body.”

“I really like Jack, and I wanted to help him when he asked if I could. But I was quite clear about what it is I could and couldn’t do.”

Travelling every week on the tour, Murray explained “is not something that I want to do right now, and it’s why there’s very few coaching jobs that I could potentially help with. The fact that he lives 30 minutes away allows us to spend a lot more time together than what would be the case with a player from Spain or America: that’s just not going to work, and you wouldn’t feel like you’re actually able to help them."

“If that wasn’t something that worked for him, then that was also absolutely fine. But I said I’d still love to help you if you would like that."

“So yeah, I get to spend a decent amount of time with Jack. I also believe a lot in his tennis. In the sessions I’ve done with him, I’ve been more impressed probably than what I expected. And I thought he was bloody good before I started helping him. He’s a quick learner. He’s got very few holes in his game. He’s a more complete player than probably what I expected as well.”

“He’s asked for me to help him over this next period. I’ve enjoyed being on court with him. We’ll see how the next few weeks pan out.”

🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀

Source: The Sun and Telegraph

📸 brielle_amey (from 4 days ago)