Jack Draper ready to step out of Andy Murray shadow and tennis starlet insists Britain's best tag won't faze him

Jack Draper is ready to be Britain's No1 after Andy Murray's retirement - but he won't be spending his time stressing over it.

The 23-year-old heads to Australia next week to get ready for the first Grand Slam of 2025. His career path is on a steep upward curve after kicking off 2024 ranked No62 and ending it by breaking into the top 15. Draper was surprised by Murray's return as Novak Djokovic's coach after the pair spent a lifetime trying to get one over the othe ron the court.

But down by the riverside, on a Memory Walk for the Alzheimer’s Society to honour his grandmother, Draper took it all in his stride. Murray was just 21 when he reached his first major final and this next year ahead could propel Draper's promise from contender to splendour. He said: “When I think of what Andy’s done, I think it’s incredible - the next Andy Murray and all that stuff - but I don’t really think about that.

“But I’m not sitting every day in my living room thinking like, ‘I know, next year I’m going to be going to be the No.1 Brit and what’s that going to mean?’ I’m focused on what I’m doing, on how I’m going to be better. If that’s in Australia or midway through the year at Wimbledon, the main thing is that I’m going in the right direction and improving all the time. And I hope that I can be one of the top players in the world and that’s great for Great Britain.”

Murray called time on his on court career after bowing out at the Paris Olympics. He promised to spend more time on the greens of the golf course. But just over 100 days later he was back in the tennis cycle as Djokovic's coach in an appointment which stunned the world of tennis.

Draper said: “What will Andy be like as a coach? It’s amazing that he’s coming back into