‘Jack Draper will win big, big titles’: Jannik Sinner on bromance with British No1
World No 1 considers Briton one of his ‘best friends on tour’ and is grateful for his support during a recent ban
Jannik Sinner was in a snoozy mood. He must have yawned three or four times while I was interviewing him, which does not say much for the originality of my questions.
But one subject sparked his interest. Asked about his friendship with Jack Draper – the latest British hero to enter the labyrinth of Wimbledon – Sinner perked up noticeably and leaned forward. From the beady look in his eye, he could have been preparing to return serve.
“You’re lucky to have a player like him,” said Sinner, the top seed and world No 1. “After Andy [Murray], they need someone big. He [Draper] is someone big, and he’s someone who is going to stay there for a very, very long time.”
It was an unusually emphatic statement from Sinner, a low pulse-rate sort of fellow who is as understated as the young Bjorn Borg. But then his relationship with Draper is clearly heartfelt.
“One of the best friends I have on the tour,” he explained of Draper, a man he once taught to cook pasta during a moment of downtime on the Challenger circuit. “We are quite similar in the way we make a lot of sacrifices to be the best we can.
“He came also, when I was banned. He came to Monaco to practise there and everything was great. But now things are … are a bit different, because, you know, he’s No 4 in the world.”
“Aha,” I said, sensing a possible grey area in Sinner’s neatly organised world. “Does that mean you can’t practise with him any more?”
“OK, it’s harder to practise with him all the time,” Sinner acknowledged. “You share less things on court, I guess. You don’t want to show him much, you know, in the practice sessions. And he’s not gonna show me the real tennis either. It is a bit complicated.
“But it doesn’t mean that the friendship goes away completely. It’s maybe the opposite. We talk about playing doubles in the future, and we grab dinner at times.
“Jack has grown so much,” Sinner concludes. “Physically, he’s strong. Mentally, he’s very, very good. I truly believe he is going to win some big, big titles.”
Sinner’s enthusiasm stems from a long association with Draper on the junior tour, as well as a shared sense of humour. A mutual friend explains that “You don’t see the real Jannik unless you really know him, but he’s actually very funny in private and has a mickey-taking side that British people appreciate.”
Delving into the archives, Telegraph Sport found photographic evidence of this childhood connection. A group shot from the 2013 Nike Junior World Tour shows an 11-year-old Draper grinning broadly in the front row. Meanwhile Sinner stands in a patch of shadow, peering through a gap between two other boys, and rocking a bushy red mullet.
Their positioning in that photo feels deliberate. Sinner was a literal backmarker at the time, having only recently taken up tennis at the expense of skiing (a sport where he once finished second in the national giant-slalom for juniors). Progress was slow at first, and Draper recently described a teenage doubles encounter where “we were saying ‘Hit to him [Sinner, who was 15 at the time], because he’s not the best player on the court!’”
But as Sinner whizzed through the rankings like a snowboarder on a black run, the two men developed a close bond. “We send each other messages in good moments, bad moments,” Draper explained last year. “You’re on the road, you’re playing such a relentlessly intense sport, and we haven’t got many friends. So to have the support of someone who’s going through it themselves is really big.”
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The family house in Monaco happened to boast a “backyard clay court” – in Cahill’s words – which was one of the few places where Sinner was allowed to train. Only in April did the terms of his suspension relax, whereupon Draper’s arrival for a training block coincided with an upgrade to the famous Monte Carlo Country Club.
“We asked Jack if he could come,” Sinner recalled of that week, “because I needed some feedback from the best players in the world. And it was good for me to see I was still quite rusty. Day by day, we tried to work on things, trying to go to Rome with certain feelings. After some time, we found it.”
The convenient timing of the ban, which did not affect Sinner’s participation in any grand-slam events, caused disquiet among certain members of his peer group, even if others – including Draper – defended him staunchly. The public response was also mixed, although fortunately Sinner says that “I am not the kind of person who is on social media for an hour every day… There are weeks when I am zero on it.”
When I asked him about the abusive online messages that disappointed gamblers send to players after each defeat, he looked unmoved. For one thing, the world No 1 doesn’t lose many matches. For another, he is not a great one for screens, unless he is playing Fifa on his PlayStation. He is more interested in his cars and his kitchen, where he indulges a very Italian passion for cooking – his signature dish is tiramisu.
“I don’t think we can stop this social-media thing,” Sinner said, “because it’s so big and it’s very difficult. But yeah, my advice is always to just take the phone away. I have the most important people on WhatsApp, and that’s all I need.” Jack Draper, we can assume, is one of them.
I really hope the atp university courses are going through all of this with these players. It’s so important. If you have seen Andrey’s documentary on YouTube he mentions that some of the WTA players parents turn around and expect their kids to “pay them back” for all the lessons over the years. Absolutely nuts. I highly recommend watching if you haven’t. He’s so transparent with his relationships with his mum and coach. Fascinating.
Probably doesn’t feel super comfortable with his dad. he doesn’t seem like a very stubborn person so I’m sure it’s for a good reason in jacks eyes. . I think he said their relationship has gotten better over the years (didn’t he say they have now progressed to going out to dinner lol) so hopefully that will continue to improve for both their sakes.
I haven't watched that doc, but I'll search it out! Yeah, not surprised that gets said/that expectation is there. Just seems like it would sting getting that info/learning from the ATP when his Dad is right there.
I'm sure it has gotten better and it's nice to hear him say about the dinners. Parental relationships, man! the most complicated!
So open I was like wow ok this is a lot of information Jack 😂 Yes agree I also feel like his parents getting divorced, with his brother being in America etc. can’t be easy. His dad was in the box at the USO which is nice.
What I find most interesting was the comment about wanting to be better at money/understand it more, while his Dad has been the executive/CEO/head financial consultant at many different orgs. Hasn't talked to Jack about that? Jack doesn't feel like he can ask? What's that about?
His parents divorce seems like it was tough, yeah. I'm sure Jack is better able to navigate it now but oh boy.
Thank you for the access to the article… very interesting about the bit with his dad 👀
You’re welcome! Thought it was a fascinating interview and the most open Jack’s been.
Pretty much every professional athlete has some shade of daddy issues. Afaik this is the first article that’s touched on Jack’s dad other than naming his as the head of the LTA. I mean, that’s some pressure. And look at him: those genes are strong.
The discipline, travel and focus required for professional tennis doesn’t lend itself to relationships and Draper is currently single. “I’ve been lucky in my life to have a couple of really amazing connections with people,” he says. Model looks aren’t the top priority in a potential partner: “For me, it’s more about someone who has got ambition, their own purpose in life, who’s nonjudgmental, someone with good values.” He has been on dating apps in the past but finds them too time consuming. “The most important thing to me right now is becoming the best tennis player I can be, especially the way the world is at the moment with all that [app] stuff. I’d rather meet someone out of genuine, almost coincidence, or when I’m focused on something else. // The Sunday Times
thinking about jannik 'there are a lot of players that I didn't think were my friends, and there's quite a large amount that I thought were my friends and are not' sinner and jack 'you're playing such a relentlessly intense sport both physically, emotionally, it's difficult. we haven't got many friends' draper on this day
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