After a breakout run to the semifinals in the 2024 US Open, many tipped British star Jack Draper to be a serious contender to win Grand Slams in 2025. Unfortunately for Draper and his fans, that didn\u2019t end up being the case, but there is still clear potential for the young Brit.<\/p>\n
Draper entered the first Slam of the year without playing a warm-up tournament, and it ended up proving costly. He was forced to retire from his round of 16 clash against Carlos Alcaraz, after coming through three gruelling five-setters in the Australian heat.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old bounced back from early season disappointment in style, reaching the final of Doha before losing out in a tight contest to Andrey Rublev. Then came Draper\u2019s biggest tournament win to date.<\/p>\n
Draper took Indian Wells by storm<\/a>, beating Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz on the way to the final. He saved his most impressive performance for the Championship match, where he took out another big name in Holger Rune – dominating the young Dane, winning 6-2, 6-2 to claim a first Masters 1000 title.<\/p>\n Despite a blip in Miami, where he lost a close match to eventual champion Jakub Mensik, Draper continued his early-season momentum onto clay. He reached the final of Madrid, losing out in a high-quality three-set affair to clay specialist Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n Despite coming up short in the final, it was clear that the Brit was a force to be reckoned with on all surfaces, and many expected a deep run on the French clay of Roland Garros.<\/p>\n After a couple of solid early-round performances, including a night session victory against Gael Monfils<\/a> (and the French crowd!) and a straight sets win against rising star Joao Fonseca, there was expectation that he would deal with the showman that is Alexander Bublik in the round of 16.<\/p>\nMore Slam Disappointment<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n