Youngster emulates compatriot Andy Murray with ATP Challenger success

Jack Draper, 20, has won a second ATP Challenger title in 2022, becoming the youngest British player to claim two such titles since none other than three-time Slam champion Andy Murray. 

The world number 162 won Forli 4 in Italy this past week after winning Forli 2 back in January.

Draper claimed 80 ATP ranking points with each title, seeing him climb 100 spots from 262nd in the world in just six weeks.

The young Brit came to the attention of the wider tennis public last year after he defeated Jannik Sinner at Queen’s.

After receiving a wildcard into Wimbledon, he then faced world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round, even taking the first set off the eventual champion.

 

 

With his two titles, Draper became the second youngest Brit to win two Challenger titles, second only to Murray in 2005.

Back then, an 18-year-old Murray won two Challengers in the US in July and August before leaving behind the Challenger Tour for 14 years after his very next event.

Those titles took teen Murray from 205th in the world to 132nd before he broke into the top 100 for the first time in October 2005, staying there for nearly 13 years before injury saw him tumble back out.

 

 

Moving forward, Draper is playing Forli 5, another Challenger, and faces world number 193 Jesper De Jong in his opening match.

Should the Brit win that event also, he could break into the top 150 of the ATP rankings for the very first time.

He would also become the youngest ever Brit to win three Challenger titles, beating out former world number 14 Kyle Edmund who won three as a 20-year-old back in 2015.

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