BBC commentator Andrew Castle has backed Jack Draper to be a Wimbledon champion one day as the World No. 4 enjoys a successful 2025 season
Jack Draper practices on Court No1 on Wednesday 25th June 2025 ahead of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
British tennis star Jack Draper will be looking to make an impact at Wimbledon this year
(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)
British men's tennis No.1 Jack Draper has been tipped to win Wimbledon one day ahead of this year's tournament at SW19.
The world number four has enjoyed a meteoric rise in 2025, claiming his maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells in March. Draper beat Denmark's Holger Rune in the final after a notable triumph over five-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old Manchester United fan reached the last four at Wimbledon warm-up event Queens last week, losing to Czech star and beaten finalist Jiri Lehecka. The three-time ATP title winner revealed post-match that he was suffering from tonsillitis throughout the tournament in west London.
But despite his recent health struggles, BBC commentator Andrew Castle is backing Draper to become a Grand Slam champion one day, including at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.
"What an animal Jack is, he’s a tough boy," he told Betway. "At the beginning of 2024, his ranking was No.62 in the world, very credible but at the start of his year his ranking was 18.
"Now he’s world No.4. The rankings don’t lie, and this is where he is at but to win the Indian Wells and to have a great run in 2024 and win 39 matches.
"Stuttgart last year was a big turning point on the grass. He had been losing final sets in matches or tie breaks, and he turned it around to win a final set tie-break 7-1 in the quarter-finals against Frances Tiafoe, that’s a big moment. You hang around, do the right work and make it happen.
"Jack is so full of power and youth. He’s tough and is a bully on court with his forehand. Since then, a Cincinnati quarter-final, semi-finals at the US Open, he's a different man. Also, a win in Vienna.
"This is a different man and there could be a dip at some point and may retreat from this as people don’t stay inside the top five or six for over 10 years so there could be a blip, but he could win Wimbledon and is a genuine threat to win every Grand Slam. He’s capable which is unbelievably exciting for him and his family."
Castle was also asked about Draper's chances of challenging World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz.
"He’s already beaten them, but I tell you what you do, you do the work," he added. "That’s what you do, and you let the results happen.
"At 23 now, there are still lots of improvement needed every day, but you turn up on the court with purpose and you eat well, get your sleep in and it’s really boring the stuff you do to make yourself play good on the day, so you have to keep the fire stoked.
"I don’t know how he does that. Whether he gets away for a couple of days now and again with his mates or whatever it is, but when he comes to work, Jack’s intensity is brilliant.
"He looks like he belongs where he is at in the rankings. If you think back to 18 months ago or two years ago, his dropshots were ropey.
"I was not sure if he had the hands but now, he is picking the right time and is throwing in the angled drop shots, playing people in short, then he’s passing them. It’s like wow. He’s developing the little stuff as well. He plays the right shots and has learnt so much. It’s exciting for us having a British player back up there again."