Jack Draper’s 2025 season may have been marred by injuries, but it remains by far the most successful of his career to date.
After all, whilst he won more titles the campaign prior, and reached the semi-finals of the US Open, this year marked the one where he won his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells.
Inarguably one of the most prestigious trophies to lift outside of the Grand Slams, many expected him to push on in the months that followed to continue such blistering form.
Alas, physical ailments once again disrupted his rhythm and curtailed a once-promising year in an instant.
Speaking to The Tennis Mentor though, he recounted his run to that Indian Wells title, explaining his thought process throughout each round.
Jack Draper recounts his run to the Indian Wells title
Despite understandably being very confident in his own ability, Jack Draper began by admitting he had not expected to achieve such a feat so soon in his career.
He claimed: “I think I was in a place where I’d played alright in Australia and done well making the final in Doha. I went to Indian Wells a week earlier and trained. I felt really good about my tennis.
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“Obviously, you know, it’s tough to believe that you’re going to win one of those big tournaments if you’ve never done it before, so I was very much, I’m very much a person who takes it on a match-by-match basis. I never get too far ahead of myself, and looking back actually, my run to win was really, really difficult.”
He would list those opponents, noting: “A lot of amazing players. I think I played Fonseca first round and you know, many top players along the way. It was just, Indian Wells is one of the best tournaments in the world, the best atmosphere and yet to be able to win a tournament that I’ve watched since I was young, you know, with a lot of those top players, kind of, I still think about it now.
“Like, that’s just an amazing achievement. I’m very proud of that.”
When asked about that incredible semi-final triumph over Carlos Alcaraz on his way to the title, Draper shared the nerves he dealt with: “I think when I was playing Alcaraz in the semis, like, I knew that it was a match to get me into the top ten and definitely I played a really good first set, and then I noticed like, my body just shutting down a little bit. I felt a bit nervy, and against someone like that, obviously, it’s tough to feel that way and also play him.
“So I was really proud of the way. I kind of dug deep in that match to get through it, but definitely there’s many nerves in tennis, like, each match has its own battle.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Draper pointed out the area of his game that he wants to improve most.
Jack Draper’s Grand Slam performances in 2025
Whilst Draper’s year was badly affected by injuries, he still managed to feature in all four of the Grand Slams.
As he mentioned, his 2025 started well in Melbourne, reaching the fourth round before he was forced to retire mid-match against Alcaraz.
He followed that up by reaching the final in Doha, before winning Indian Wells.
A run to another final in Madrid paved the way for his surprise Roland Garros success, where he was only beaten by an inspired Alexander Bublik, again in the fourth round.
However, Wimbledon and the US Open were both impacted more severely by injury, with his return to the All-England Club resulting in a disappointing second-round defeat to Marin Cilic.
Then, in New York, despite beating Federico Agustin Gomez in his first match, he pulled himself out of the event before his second-round match against Zizou Bergs, shutting down his season afterwards.
