Draper and Alcaraz resume budding rivalry with relish

This time a year ago, British observers at Queen's Club crossed their fingers and hoped for the best as Jack Draper faced defending champion and super-talent Carlos Alcaraz in the last 16. It was an unenviable draw, to say the least.

- FLO CLIFFORD

But Draper rose to the occasion, dispatching the Spaniard in straight sets, on a day that marked his transformation from young prospect to serious player.

A week earlier, he had won his maiden ATP title, on the grass in Stuttgart, defeating former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini. If 2024 was to prove his breakout year, 2025, so far, has sent him into the stratosphere.

Now at a career high of world No 4 - although he will slip to fifth today, having lost ranking points from not defending his title in Stuttgart the Brit has arrived among the tennis elite.

British players carry an extra weight of expectation on their shoulders during the grass-court season, as generations can attest to; many of them have wilted under that pressure. This year will be Draper's first test of how he handles playing on grass with not just that pressure, but the added burden of being a favourite for the title.

As the second seed, he will not face top seed Alcaraz until the final, should they both get that far. The 23-year-old opens his campaign against the unorthodox American Jenson Brooksby, with third seed and Stuttgart champion Taylor Fritz, fifth seed Alex de Minaur, and huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his half.