The Warrington link to young Brit taking Wimbledon by storm

JACK Draper will be carrying the hopes of British tennis fans onto the Wimbledon No1 court later today when he faces Australian 19th seed Alex De Minaur in the second round.

The 20-year-old rising star has a Warrington link, with his father Roger having previously held the position of Warrington Wolves chief executive between 2015 and 2017.

Jack's profile started to gather momentum at last year's Wimbledon fortnight when the left-hander faced top seed and eventual winner Novak Djokovic on Centre Court in the opening round and even won the first set.

Roger, chief executive of Sport England from 2003 to 2006 and the Lawn Tennis Association from 2006 to 2013 who went on to become executive director of Super League, will be feeling so proud of his son's progression.

Jack, ranked the British men's number four, has said he is ready to 'do some damage' at Wimbledon after recording his first grand slam victory in the first round against in-form Belgian Zizou Bergs.

Jack Draper in action against Zizou Bergs at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Picture: PA Wire

He has shown this year he is more than capable of building on his standout talent as a junior, rising more than 150 places in the rankings since taking that set off Serbian great Djokovic on his Wimbledon debut.

His game is particularly well suited to grass and he arrived at the All England Club as a top-100 player and a genuine danger to the rest of the field after reaching the semi-finals of the Rothesay International in Eastbourne last week.

And against Bergs, champion at the recent second-tier Challenger tournament in Ilkley, Draper fought off three set points in the third set to claim a 6-4 6-4 7-6 (4) victory on Court 12 on Tuesday.

“I felt like Zizou is someone who is quite a dangerous player. He’s someone I’ve known from the Challengers. He’s quite flairy.

“He can play some incredible tennis, then he can play some quite loose tennis. Overall he’s a great competitor, a tough player to play against.

“Glad with the way I came through the match. Obviously this is my first grand slam on merit, main draw win. I’m obviously very happy. These are all good new experiences for me.

“This is what I want to do. I want to have a great career, especially in grand slams. I know this is just a start, and hopefully I can keep on going from here.”

Jack achieved the rare feat of winning four Challenger titles in the first three months of the year to leap towards the top 100 and has already beaten two top-20 players this summer.

His impressive progress at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne brought him a maiden ATP Tour semi-final.

He was prevented from becoming the first British male to reach the singles final of the Devonshire Park tournament after Maxime Cressy added to a list of British scalps already containing Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie by edging a tense encounter 7-6 (5) 6-7 (2) 6-3.

Defending champion De Minaur, his opponent today, was defeated in the other semi-final.

“I’ve been working with my team and my coach, James (Trotman), trying to keep on improving all the time,” said the former Wimbledon junior finalist.

“I think that’s our mentality, that every week, every day, I’m improving. On the grass I started off always trying to adapt. Last week I felt like I had a really good, positive week at Eastbourne.

“I came here confident. I’m ready to hopefully do some damage in this tournament. I believe in my ability. So let’s see how far I can go.”

De Minaur, as the next man in his way, presents a new challenge.

“Alex is someone who has been around for a long time,” said Jack.

“I think people forget he’s still very young.

“He’s a great competitor, incredibly quick, good on grass courts as well. It’s going to be a really tough match. I think I can use my weapons and hopefully play well.

“I think I’ve got experience of playing on big courts now.”

The only disappointment for Jack on Tuesday was the service game he dropped in the third set when he had looked in total control that allowed Bergs back into the match.

The Belgian played his best tennis late in that set, creating three chances to win it, one with a Boris Becker-style diving volley winner, but Jack saved them all superbly and played a fine tie-break.

He believes he is in far better shape to progress deep into the championships on this occasion compared to 2021, partly due to lessons learned from his memorable Centre Court clash with the formidable Djokovic.

“My lead-up to playing Novak last year was very different to this year,” said Jack.

“This year I’ve been able to stay in form, my practice has been more consistent and I’ve been able to get a lot of matches in, whereas last year I was injured pretty much all the way up until Queen’s.

“And then, even when I was playing Djokovic, something was hurting in my body, so I’m a completely different player this year.

“I think he showed me how many weaknesses I still had in my game.

“Obviously I’ve tried to improve that the best I can and I think every year I’m going to be a better player, but definitely this year I’ve improved a lot and I think I’m ready to be fully dangerous.”