Exclusive
Reflecting on a milestone title in Indian Wells with Jack Draper’s coach, James Trotman
Jack Draper joined an elite group of British stars in Indian Wells as he became the fifth Briton to win an ATP Masters 1000 event and break into the ATP top 10.
The 23-year-old joined the likes of Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman, Andy Murray and Cam Norrie as he dispatched 12th seed Holger Rune in the final 6-2, 6-2.
Out in California with him was LTA Men’s National Coach James Trotman who has been with Draper full-time since 2021, but started working with the Brit eight years ago while he was on the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme.
After a fortnight in which the British No.1 saw off four of the top 15 seeds and beat two players currently ranked in the top five, Trotman gave us an insight into his performances and what made his Indian Wells campaign so special.
We arrived Thursday evening before the event, started training on the Friday – so we got to Indian Wells pretty early, which was great.
Playing in the desert the ball flies and it’s the only event in the year where they use those specific balls. The courts are usually pretty slow and high bouncing, so getting here early and having that week to prepare before the tournament started was amazing. I think it really benefited Jack.
The draw from start to finish was difficult, he had to beat a lot of in-form and great players. Starting with Joao Fonseca in the second round, which was never going to be easy – he’s won a hell of a lot of matches this year.
He’s young and was always going to play with a lot of freedom and try and get after it, but Jack did an amazing job to navigate that tricky first round.
Then he was up against Jenson Brooksby, who is starting to play some good tennis following his comeback.
He’s got an awkward, difficult game style and it was Jack’s first match on the stadium court, which was a great experience. Mentally I think he handled himself very well against that tricky game style on the day.
Next up was Taylor Fritz, a top five player in the world and him and Jack have had some incredible matches before and I think at that point, it was Jack’s best performance in the tournament.
He looked physical, he looked sharp, served well, dominated on his forehand and played a really fantastic match.
Ben Shelton came in playing some great tennis and he’s at a career-high ranking as well. Again, it’s another tough game style with Ben – he’s so powerful, so physical and there’s a lot that’s out of your hands when you play against him.
Conditions were difficult as well – it was very windy out there – so for me, it was another big mental battle for Jack to keep his composure in that match.
He had to deal with a lot of big weapons coming at him and it was a high-level tennis match – going down a break and 3-0 in he second set and finding a way back to win that was an incredible effort.
Carlos (Alcaraz) in the semis was a bit of a yo-yo match. I think Jack started great in that match but Carlos was a little off the pace. The second set got away from Jack pretty quickly but again I think he composed himself really well in the third set – finding a way to come out, be competitive and ultimately get across the line.
It was a massive match – his first semi-final at an ATP Masters 1000 event – and also playing for a top 10 ranking. Those matches aren’t easy.
The final, for me, especially given the occasion going for his first Masters title, was Jack’s best match of the whole tournament.
He served incredibly well, especially in the first set. His forehand was dominant, he was in attack, he was dictating the play.
It was just an amazing achievement overall and a fantastic week.