British number one Jack Draper has set his sights on closing the gap to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the US Open gets underway today.
The 22-year-old acknowledged the pair's superiority whilst speaking to media ahead of the tournament.
"I think those guys are the most consistent, the most, you know, their level is definitely above the rest of us right now," Draper stated.
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Jack Draper is desperate to break the stranglehold Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have on tennis currently
|Reuters
However, he expressed optimism about narrowing the divide. "But I feel like, you know, there are a lot of players who want to keep on improving, want to keep on developing to get to where they're at."
Away from the court, Draper has secured what is reportedly among tennis's most valuable apparel contracts with Vuori. The deal marks his departure from Nike earlier this year.
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The British player expressed astonishment at his new role with the brand.
"I'm still a bit blown away with the fact that they want me as kind of the face of their [brand]," he said.
"I'm not someone who is always like 'I belong in that position'. I'm very sort of blown away and grateful for the fact that they want me as a kind of like the face of the brand at the moment."
Draper's tournament preparations have been severely disrupted by injury concerns.
A bone bruise in his left humerus sidelined him for six weeks, preventing him from competing in any tournaments during that period.
"It was something I was playing through for a while," he revealed.
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Carlos Alcaraz won his first major title at the US Open, becoming champion in 2022
|Reuters
"You know, [I] first started feeling it probably towards the middle of the clay season."
The injury progressively worsened through the grass court season, ultimately requiring complete rest. Draper disclosed he couldn't serve for four weeks and avoided groundstrokes for two and a half weeks.
"It is one of those where, yeah, if you keep playing with it, it could become very, very serious. So I had to take some time out," he explained.
Draper maintains the injury played no role in his disappointing second-round exit at Wimbledon, where he fell to veteran Marin Cilic.
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The British number one attributed his early departure from SW19 to difficulties adjusting to grass courts.
"I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve, as well," he had noted about the injury's impact during the grass season.
Despite these physical challenges, Draper blamed his Wimbledon performance solely on his inability to adapt swiftly to the surface rather than the developing bone bruise that would later force his extended break from competition.