Jack Draper has revealed the key things that Sir Andy Murray has brought to his game since the former Wimbledon champion took over as his coach. British tennis past and present have joined forces ahead of Draper’s comeback tournament at Eastbourne this week, with Murray casting a watchful eye over the now world No. 160, who is making his first appearance on the tour since pulling out of the Barcelona Open back in April.
Draper's injury struggles and coaching shake-up
Draper, now the British No. 3, has suffered with injuries aplenty in the past year, battling a bone issue in his arm that he picked up in Madrid, as well as an ongoing struggle with knee tendonitis and a serious bout of tonsillitis at Queen’s Club, where he powered into the last four. He played through the pain at Wimbledon — beaten in the second round by Marin Cilic — and at the US Open, where he was forced to hand Zizou Bergs a second-round walkover. Now, Draper has shaken up his backroom staff, with Murray’s former coach Jamie Delgado stepping away, and Murray himself moving into a first coaching position since ending his partnership with Novak Djokovic back in May after a poor run of results for the Serb.
Biomechanical changes to his serve
Speaking to reporters ahead of his Eastbourne comeback against fifth seed Brandon Nakashima, Draper said: “Since Andy's come on board, he's taken a look at my tennis and definitely worked on some stuff, [particularly] biomechanical changes on my serve. I went to a platform serve, because I've always had a good serve, always had a good step-up serve, but, technically, I was using my arm way too much. I wasn't using my legs. I nearly had to have surgery on my arm here in 2023 because I had a rupture in my arm — the subscapularis. It’s uncommon for someone to have two major arm issues, so I really had to look at my serve.”
Murray's impact on confidence and mindset
He continued, reflecting on the impact of Murray’s coaching: “His tennis knowledge is incredible. My tennis is actually in a really, really good spot [despite] losing a lot of confidence in my body over the last year. Having someone who believes in you as a person, as a player who is one of your biggest inspirations. I have a great relationship with him off the court, but our relationship, I would say, is very special, and so that gives me a bit more energy, especially in a moment where I'm coming back and I need to have that good energy around me.”
Draper will face Brandon Nakashima in the first round at Eastbourne as he begins his build-up to Wimbledon, where he will hope to improve on his second-round exit last year.
