Jack Draper: I need to improve to earn Rafael Nadal comparison

Draper has risen to a career-high No 6 in the ATP Rankings with his jump coming on the back of his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Indian Wells Open in March.

He is currently the highest-ranked left-hander on the ATP Tour and only one other southpaw has been ranked higher in the 21st century and that left-hander is Nadal.

There have been a lot of comparisons between the two in recent months as both are also naturally right-handed, but play left-handed.

Draper, though, is uncomfortable with the suggestion that his game is similar to one of the all-time tennis greats.

"Being compared to Rafa is not right, to be honest," the British No 1 told discovery+. "He's obviously an icon of the game and a 14-time Roland-Garros [winner], it's nuts.

"I definitely think being a lefty and having that loopy forehand and stuff is pretty similar, but there are definitely areas in my game I need to improve on to get to his standard."

But there is no doubt that Draper is improving his game as last year he started the season at No 61, but finished at No 15 after winning the Stuttgart Open and Vienna Open. He also reached the semi-final of the US Open.

This year he finished runner-up at the Qatar Open before winning the trophy in Indian Wells, beating the likes of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune en route.

The 23-year-old's confidence is sky high.

"It definitely helps my confidence and helps my belief, winning a tournament as big as that which I've watched since I was young," he said.

"It definitely fills me with pride and helps me to understand why I do all the hard work, but at the same time, tennis keeps on going, life keeps on going.

"I'm here for another week to improve myself but it gives me a lot of self-belief and a lot of pride to accomplish something I've wanted to do for a long time."

Now that he has mastered the hard courts, it is time to focus on clay and he is the first to admit that he still has work to do as he is yet to crack it on the red dirt.

He is yet to pick up more than two wins in a row at the major European events (Monte Carlo, Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open).

Draper added: "I feel like I haven't had too much exposure to clay. A couple of years ago, I got injured so I wasn't able to play too much.

"Last year, I lost a couple of really close matches to top 10 players and I wasn't able to get my feet off the ground.

"This year, I feel better in all areas, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's to come and what I can do on this surface. I definitely have a lot to prove." 

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