Andy Murray thinks Jack Draper, the recently-crowned British champion, has what it takes to reach the “top of the world rankings”.
At the Stuttgart Open on Sunday, Draper, 22, defeated Matteo Berrettini of Italy 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to win his maiden ATP title.
His achievement enabled him to surpass fellow countryman Cameron Norrie, 28, in the global rankings.
Draper is currently ranked number 31 in the world, eight spots ahead of Norrie, who had a dismal clay-court season and lost in the first round at Nottingham last week. Draper is thus well-positioned to receive a Wimbledon seeding.
“Jack, I think, has bigger goals to aspire to than being British number one,” Murray stated.
“He can, in my opinion, rise to the very top of the game, the very top of the
Murray, a former world champion, continued, “He genuinely loves the sport.” He puts a lot of effort into it, and I believe grass is an excellent surface for him. On the surface, I believe he’ll do admirably throughout the years.
It’s incredible that he won his first competition, and I’m definitely happy for him. He’s lost a lot of very close matches this year, which has made it difficult for him and could have made it seem much different and more positive than it has.
“He’s easily up in the top 20 in the world when you alter a couple of those results.”
“In my eyes, he’s definitely playing good enough to be right up there.”
This week, Draper and Norrie will be competing at Queen’s Club. Should Draper go past their first-round matches, he will square off against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the defending Wimbledon champion and current world number two.
On Tuesday, Draper will play Mariano Navone of Argentina, while Alcaraz will play Navone’s countryman Francisco Cerundolo.
While Norrie will play against Canadian former Wimbledon champion Milos Raonic on Monday, Murray will start his campaign on Tuesday against Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin.