Meet Britain’s highest-ranking tennis player from Sutton

Britain’s highest-ranking tennis player Jack Draper is from Sutton.

Professional tennis player Jack Draper is the highest-ranking British man in the Association of Tennis Professionals, ranking 31 globally.

The 22-year-old was born to former chief executive of Sport England Roger Draper and former junior British Tennis Champion Nicky Draper.

At aged 16, Jack took part in the 2018 Wimbledon Championships where he reached his first and only junior Grand Slam final.

He lost to Tseng Chun-hsin in three sets and closed the year at a career-high junior ranking of Number 7.

Draper made his ATP Tour main draw debut in singles in 2021 as a wildcard at the Miami Open.

He had to retire in his first-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin after he collapsed on the court from a heat-related illness.

This year, Draper has achieved several achievements.

He reached his second final at the 2024 Adelaide International after defeating Alexander Bublik.

He reached the semifinals at an ATP 500 event for the first time at the 2024 Abierto Mexicano Telcel at Acapulco where he defeated Tommy Paul, Yoshihito Nishioka and Miomir Kecmanovic.

Draper retired against defending champion Alex de Minaur where Draper moved to a new career-high of No. 37 on March 4, 2024.

He made it to the final in his third career tournament called the BOSS Open in Stuttgart.

On his way to the final, he beat three American players named Marcos Giron, Frances Tiafoe, and Brandon Nakashima.

In the final, he defeated Matteo Berrettini to win his first-ever title.

This made him the eighth new champion on the ATP Tour in 2024.

After this, he became the number one male tennis player in Britain and reached his highest ranking of 31 in the ATP rankings.

The week after at the 2024 Queen's Club Championships, he reached the quarterfinals for the second time in a row by defeating Mariano Navone and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, putting Draper in the top 30 of the rankings.

Jack Draper will be playing at Wimbledon’s Gentlemen’s Singles Round 2 today (July 4) against Cameron Norrie at 2.15pm.