Jim Courier has rated Jack Draper’s chances of winning the French Open following yesterday’s draw.
Before the event, everyone can speculate who will go the furthest and who should claim the title.
However, it is only once the draw is made that a player’s actual chances of winning are revealed.
Draper goes into the French Open as the number five seed, an all-time high for him at a Grand Slam. Baring that in mind, he deserves all the compliments sent his way, with Courier the latest to laud the 23-year-old.
Jim Courier compares Jack Draper to Rafael Nadal
Speaking to Roland Garros’ official website, the American tennis legend naturally focused on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s chances of winning the event.
After all, they are the top-two seeded players and the overwhelming favourites for a reason.
However, after that there is a handful of others who will be hoping to upset that duopoly, with Draper chief amongst them.
Courier certainly thinks he’s capable of doing so, whilst even offering a legendary Rafael Nadal comparison as he claimed: ‘Seeing him [Draper] win Roland-Garros would be surprising, but not impossible. His progress is striking. His forehand became a formidable weapon, with a lot of lift and angles.
‘His backhand, which he likes to hit short crossed and more flat, is also very troublesome. In fact, he adopts a bit of a Nadal-style tactic. And then, he already has a Grand Slam semi-final to his credit, so he knows how to perform in these contexts. This year, he’s impressive.’
Since Jack Draper’s Roland Garros draw has been revealed, though, optimism has been somewhat dampened.
What does Jack Draper’s draw at the French Open look like?
Crucially for the Brit, he has been lumped in the far harder side of the draw compared to Alcaraz’s half.
However, if he was to go on and win the French Open title, he would have had to have beaten all the elite players anyway. This just fast-tracks their path towards him.
First facing Mattia Bellucci, he could then have to play hometown hero Gael Monfils in the second round before one of Hubert Hurkacz or Joao Fonseca will likely await him in the third.
This is when things really begin to hot up for Draper, who will have to beat one of Jakub Mensik or Alex de Minaur for the pleasure of meeting Sinner in the quarter-finals.
It is far from an easy draw, but after a solid clay-court season there’s cause for optimism within the Draper camp.
