Naomi Osaka’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou has praised a mature Jack Draper for being more “disciplined” and feels the British No 1 has “no limits” heading into 2025 following his Vienna waltz at the weekend.
Draper continued his upward trajectory by winning the Erste Bank Open to claim his maiden ATP 500 title – the biggest title of his career.
The 22-year-old, who reached the US Open semi-finals in September, capped a fabulous season with Sunday’s straight-sets success over Karen Khachanov.
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Highlights as Draper beat Karen Khachanov to win the biggest title of his career in Vienna
His game plan, the way he should play, his style is very, very clear now, which was not that obvious before.
Legendary coach Mouratoglou, who worked with tennis great Serena Williams for a decade and, more recently, has been helping guide four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, told Sky Sports: “I think he’s a great player. Last year when he won Ultimate Tennis Showdown [UTS], I think he played incredible tennis the whole three days.
“I feel that now he’s much more mature in terms of his game, his game plan, his game style. Everything looks much more mature. And when you see him win in Vienna, you don’t feel he plays out of his mind. It’s his level. So I think he improved a lot this year.
“I think the big challenge for him now is to stay injury-free because he’s been injured a lot for someone so young.
“If he manages to stay injury-free then I think he’s definitely a top-10 player and a player that has huge weapons and potentially has no limits.”
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Tennis icon Martina Navratilova believes Draper can continue to go far in the Grand Slam events next year
Mouratoglou, who is nicknamed “The Coach”, says Draper has improved all aspects of his game, most notably his backhand.
Southpaw slugger Draper has made some big decisions whilst working alongside James Trotman such as leaving his phone switched off in practice and cutting out caffeine in order to aid his chances of competing with the very best players in the game.
“I feel that his backhand is much better,” said Mouratoglou. “Before, his backhand was not hurting the opponent much. I saw him play in Vienna, and I thought he’s taking the ball much earlier with the backhand, and he can hit the ball full, taking the ball early.
“So he can hurt players a lot with his backhand that is quite flat. And I feel he has a clear game plan.
“His game plan, the way he should play, his style is very, very clear now, which was not that obvious before.
“He’s very solid and he’s very disciplined in what he’s doing. But I think that’s a major improvement he’s made this year.”
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Draper showed his optimism in conquering a Grand Slam following his US Open exit at the hands of Jannik Sinner
Consistency will be key for Draper to challenging the likes of world No 1 Jannik Sinner and two-time Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz for major honours moving forward.
He is expected to target Masters 1000 titles and Grand Slams, in addition to further improving his career-high ranking, which is currently at No 15.
“I think there is a lot of competition at the moment. You have two guys who are way above the others, Sinner and Alcaraz. But I think there is also a new generation coming up with a lot of guys that have big potential. Jack is one of them,” Mouratoglou said. “He really believes in himself, which I think is great.
“We’ve been used to this generation of Rafa [Nadal], Roger [Federer], Novak [Djokovic]. The young generations that came up never thought they could make it because those three guys, in their mind, were unbeatable.
“But I feel that Alcaraz and Sinner are young like them, so they think, ‘why not us?’
“There is really a big, big generation in terms of players that can make it to the top. And again, Jack is one of them, but the competition is tough.”
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Drama, sickness, injury scare in thriller | Highlights of a dramatic semi-final between Draper and Sinner at the US Open
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From 4am on October 28 through to 4pm on October 31 you can watch back-to-back LIVE TENNIS totalling 84 hours non-stop action on Sky Sports Tennis.
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- WTA Finals Riyadh – (November 2-9)
- Belgrade Open – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
- Moselle Open, Metz – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
- Nitto ATP Finals, Turin – (November 10-17)
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