British tennis star Jack Draper has issued a response to Rafael Nadal comparisons after his impressive Madrid Open win over Tommy Paul.
Draper, 23, has been in stunning form on the ATP Tour ahead of the French Open, winning five consecutive matches when facing opponents ranked in the top 20, with two of those victories coming against top-five players.
The British No.1 thrashed American 11th-seed Paul 6-2-6-2 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of a clay ATP 1000 tournament for the first time.
Draper has a great chance of clinching his fourth ATP Tour title in the Spanish capital with the world No.6 the highest seed left at the event after the eliminations of Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic.
With Carlos Alcaraz also not present, Draper will next face Italian world No.44 Matteo Arnaldi in the last eight at the Madrid Open on Thursday.
It is somewhat unusual for British players to excel on clay but Draper, who has played down talk of being ‘arrogant’, says he must perform well on all three surfaces to be a ‘top player in the world for many years to come’.
Draper has, however, played down comparisons to tennis legend Nadal – a fellow lefty who is widely considered to be the best player on clay ever – who clinched an record 14 French Open titles before he retired last year.
‘I mean I haven’t won 14 Roland-Garros [titles] just yet!’ Draper told Sky Sports.
‘Rafa is obviously someone, being a lefty, that I looked up to when I was younger. I don’t sort of compare myself to him, but I’d like to think that I want to have qualities like Rafa.
‘Whether that’s attitude or his forehand with the shape. There’s certain things I can take from him for sure, but not quite his level yet on the clay.’
Speaking in his on-court interview, Draper was quizzed about his previous comments that British players don’t play as much on clay as he does.
‘Everyone is different right?’ Draper said. ‘But I feel like the players who don’t play on it loads like myself.. we can easily get caught in the mindset that it’s not our best surface.
‘But if I’m hopefully going to be a top top player in the world for many years to come, then I’m going to have to play very well on all surfaces and be consistent.
‘That’s a challenge for me. I think I can do really good things on the clay. Let’s see. Time will tell.’
Asked if he was surprised to reach his first ATP 1000 quarter-final on clay, Draper added: ‘No not really. Not in an arrogant way.
‘I just think I know that it’s just been a matter of time until I do something good on the clay.
‘When I practice back home on it and when I was younger… I always felt good on the surface… it’s a bit of a different level now obviously.
‘It feels good to try and keep on proving to myself and everyone else that I’m a good player on this surface and that I’m dangerous.’
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