It’s been quite the rise to prominence for 23-year-old Jack Draper (Image: Getty)
will be tucking into his Christmas dinner with a smile on his face after a sensational 2024 on the .
The Brit’s standout moment came in the States when he reached the semi-final of the , losing to eventual winner and current world No.1 .
Draper also tasted glory twice on the , taking home titles from the Stuttgart and Vienna events.
He’s understandably seen as British tennis’ next up-and-coming star, with Draper being .
But while Draper has been in the limelight this year, the 23-year-old is keen to keep his feet firmly on the ground… something exemplified by his choice of motor.
Even though he banked close to £800,000 in prize money alone from his semi-final run, the Sutton-born star admitted he drives a second-hand banger.
In an interview with , Draper revealed: “I still drive a second-hand Polo. I’m not materialistic. I don’t find who I am or what I do very impressive.”
Despite the modest assessment of his profession, Draper admitted he’s entering 2025 in the mindset he wants to be as successful as possible.
Jack Draper reached the semi-final of the US Open (Image: Getty)
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“When I was a bit younger, I used to love just [doing] a bit of training, and then come back and eat crisps all day and watch TV,” he continued. “But now that I feel like I’ve got a goal and a purpose bigger than myself, I want to be busy the whole time. I want to be progressing.
“That’s all I think about really. So when I have days off, when I have times where I’m injured or I can’t play, or I can’t get in the gym, I do find it incredibly difficult.
“I’ve started to understand now why struggled to leave the sport. [As tennis players] we’re chasing something the whole time, we’re busy with that dopamine hit of winning and playing and travelling. It’s not real life. So when you go back to not having a lot of stuff on, it’s kind of like, ‘I’ve got another six hours till the end of the day. What am I going to do? Watch some TV?’”
Before claiming he sympathises with as to why he was so keen to become ’s coach, despite hanging up his racket in the summer.
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Draper said: “It’s obviously a shock that he [Murray] is going to be with Djokovic [as a coach for at least the start of the new season].
“But I can understand that he probably wants that buzz again. I’m definitely wired a little bit that way, as well. I suppose the sport wires you to be that way.”
Draper’s first big test of the year will come at the , which gets underway in mid-January.