British No. 1 Jack Draper enjoyed a breakout year in 2024, winning his first two ATP Tour titles and reaching the semi-finals of the US Open.
The Londoner earned over £2m in prize money and climbed to 15th in his career after 39 wins in his 61 matches.
Draper is missing the United Cup with a hip injury – which also prevented him from attending a training camp with four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz – but hopes to be fit for the Australian Open in Melbourne from January 12.
“To be honest, I couldn't train the way I wanted. My preparations for Australia probably won't be the best,” he said.
“But that's the way it is in sport – you have to go with the ups and downs. I hope to give myself the best chance to play well.”
When could Draper be next in action on Sky Sports?
The left-hander is not expected to play in any tournaments ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season, while he has already decided to skip his country's Davis Cup match with Japan at the end of January.
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After his run to the semi-finals of the US Open, Martina Navratilova believes Draper can go far in the 2025 Grand Slams.
Montpellier is hosting the ATP 250 tournament starting on January 27, Before February, there are competitions in Dallas, Rotterdam, Delray Beach, Buenos Aires, Marseilles, Rio de Janeiro, Doha, Dubai, Acapulco and Santiago for Draper to be a potential pick.
March is then dominated by the big Masters 1000 hardcourt tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, before the clay season includes tournaments of similar status in Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome, ahead of the French Open from May 25 to June 8.
Wimbledon runs from June 30 to July 15 before Draper returns to Flushing Meadows, live on Sky Sports, for the US Open from August 30 to September 2.
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Draper defeated Karen Khachanov to win the Vienna Open and claim his first ATP 500 title.
What Draper achieved in 2024
After suffering his second defeat in as many ATP finals in January – his loss to Jiri Lehecka at the Adelaide International following a miss against Adrian Mannarino in Sofia last November – Draper won his next two ATP finals in 2024, on grass in Stuttgart , and then closed hard playgrounds in Vienna.
The Sutton-born player came from a set down to beat Mario Berrettini in Germany in June to win his first ATP 250 title and built on the ATP 500 trophy four months later when he defeated Karen Khachanov in straight sets in Austria.
Other notable match wins include defeating Alcaraz at Queen's and Alex De Minaur at the US Open, while he also posted two wins over another pair of top 10 players in Hubert Hurkacz (in Japan) and Taylor Fritz (in Paris).
He played against world No.1 Jannik Sinner before falling in three sets in the US Open semi-finals, with a run to the last four keeping his chances of reaching the ATP Tour finals at the end of the season alive before those hopes were dashed by defeat from De Minaur in the final in Paris.
Draper will also be disappointed to lose in the second round at Wimbledon – beaten by compatriot Cameron Norrie – and perhaps unable to back up his win over Alcaraz at Queen's, falling to Tommy Paul in the next round.
Draper ready to “shake up” the top players in 2025
Draper said: “I have this inner belief now. I'm going to go again next year with even more motivation to really shake up those guys at the top of the game – like Sinner and Alcaraz.
“Winning my first title and then the US Open was huge because I really believed I belonged. It's been a snowball effect ever since.
“If I can continue to improve physically and get more experience at this higher level against top players, I'll give myself a chance to compete with those guys. But there is a lot of work to do.
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Draper sat down with Gigi Salmon to discuss his career so far, dealing with the demands of the ATP Tour and fulfilling his potential in 2025.
“As a young player, I'm still learning to deal with the demands of playing on tour, week in and week out, against a lot of these guys.
“I played only 120 matches on the tour. Many of them have played 400, 500. How much I've improved from a mental, physical, emotional point of view in the last 40 matches – that's a huge difference.
“So if I think I'm that far behind, I'm still able to do what I've been doing, I think I just need more time.”
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream from NOW.