Jack Draper’s chances of defending his Indian Wells title were boosted on Monday when he defeated Francisco Cerundolo in the third round.
In the next round, Draper will play Novak Djokovic; an individual whom the British star called the ‘greatest player of all time.’
The British number one will be looking to gain some insight from his coach, Jamie Delgado, ahead of Wednesday’s blockbuster contest.
Draper hired the British former world number 57 in October last year; and it appears Delgado has had a positive effect on Draper so far.
Delgado recently sat down with Jonathan Overend to discuss his partnership with Draper, noting where the 23-year-old can improve his game.
Jamie Delgado says Jack Draper can improve his backhand
During the Sky Sports interview, Overend asked Delgado is ‘excited’ to be working with Draper.
“Yes, super excited,” he said. “He’s [Draper] one of the up-and-coming players in world tennis and one of the few guys that can challenge.
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“Jannik and Carlos at the top, so I think to beat those top guys you need, you know, at times you need to take the racket out their hand. You can’t; it’s very difficult to beat them.
“Cat and mouse, and trying to beat them just from the baseline or out playing them, you do need some shots that, on a particular day, are good enough to knock them off the court a little bit.
“And he definitely has that. Of course, those guys have done it very consistently.
“Over the last few years, and they’ve got the titles to prove that. But you know, Jack’s definitely got it in his locker to compete with these guys and push them for big titles for sure.”
Overend then moved the conversation on, asking Delgado for his thoughts on Draper’s skillset.
Delgado [pictured below], who has also worked with Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov, identified Draper’s backhand as an area for future improvement.
“I think his backhand’s obviously rock solid,” Delgado added.
“I think it could be better. I think he can be a bit more offensive with that shot. He defends amazingly well. He can change directly. He’s got all the shots on that side, but can he be a little bit more proactive with that? I think he can.
“When he’s in position. Can he put guys in tougher situations? I think he can.
Jack Draper’s path to the 2026 Indian Wells title…
- Round of 16: Novak Djokovic
- Quarter-finals: Daniil Medvedev / Alex Michelsen
- Semi-finals: Carlos Alcaraz / Cameron Norrie / Casper Ruud
- Final: Jannik Sinner / Alexander Zverev
“Someone like Carlos and Jannik, they have the ability to return from far back in the court and also up in the court.
“Jack has traditionally been a player who likes to return further back, so I’ve been working a lot on that, getting up the court a little bit, and again, just having those different options that you do need on different surfaces against different players.
“You know, some days it’s working really well — that you return back, some days it’s not so much.
“You’ve got to change it, and I think Jannik and Carlos have shown that you need both, even though they still need to mix it up a little bit. So I think that’s an area where Jack has improved.”
Who is Jamie Delgado?
Jamie Delgado, from London, is a British former professional tennis player and the coach of Jack Draper.
Delgado, who represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup during his playing career, holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimbledon tournaments, playing for the 23rd time in 2014 at the age of 37.
Jack Draper is the ATP’s best bet at unsettling Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s dominance – prove us wrong…
The former world number 57 recorded his best major performances at Wimbledon, reaching the second round in 1999, 2001 and 2006.
Delgado began his coaching career in 2014, acting as a player/coach for Gilles Muller.
He has gone on to work with Andy Murray, Denis Shapovalov, Grigor Dimitrov, and Jack Draper.
