‘Are you getting ready for UFC?’ How super-fit Draper intimidates Bublik

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

The guy was 40 years ago, but this year he was in the top four, which is a remarkable accomplishment.

Alexander Bublik is undoubtedly not the first to notice. Jack Draper has been a household name all year.

The British number one’s rise has been unavoidable.

After advancing to the US Open semi-finals last year with a string of impressive performances in 2025, including winning his first ATP Masters title at Indian Wells, Draper has since risen in the rankings.

Bublik will now attempt to stop the soon-to-be-world number four after making it to the fourth round of the French Open.

For me, Jack is insane, he said, “sorry, Jack.” “It was his first day here,” he said. Are you getting ready for the UFC, I ask?

British tennis fans might have just found their next major tournament contender in 23-year-old Draper, according to the 23-year-old.

Tim Henman, a former world number four from the UK, recently stated to BBC Sport that Draper’s best qualities, including his left-handed serve and crunching forehand, could “work on any surface.”

However, Draper had never won a clay-court major before this year, with the majority of his success occurring on grass or hard courts.

He made incredible progress on the surface this year, and he won his first clay final in Madrid in April.

Draper’s ability to recover from the injuries that have plagued him in the past has contributed significantly to his improvement on the slower surface.

He will now face a second Grand Slam quarter-final only with the world number 62.

And while Draper had the best year of his career, Bublik dropped from 17th in the 2024 rankings to as low as 82nd in March.

The Kazakh traveled to Las Vegas that month to blow some steam, which caused a radical change of course.

He claimed that the reason for my fall was not a lack of attitude or practice.

“It was the exact opposite,” she said. I waited patiently for the results, and I just sat there.

“I was like, it will come if I practice more and hit my forehands better,” I said. It didn’t, and then I realized, “OK, why am I sacrificing so much?” For what? ‘”

When asked if the trip to Nevada was a training trip, Bublik replied, “No, Vegas, Vegas, like Vegas, like a hangover thing.

Three good days, I must say. I had merely let it out. I said, “I’m useless now, I can’t win a game, so let’s see how it turns out,” so let’s see how it turns out.

Bublik arrived from Vegas three hours before his next match and won his next competition, the Challenger tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. Last month, he also won on clay in Turin.

Two British men have advanced to Roland Garros’ fourth round for the first time since 1963.

After defeating compatriot Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic square off on Monday at Court Philippe Chatrier, respectively, is in the last 16.

Despite having risen to eighth in the world in 2022, world number 81 Norrie has endured a difficult couple of years.

However, Norrie, 29, now advanced to the fourth round of Slams with the win over Fearnley.

“To make the second week for the first time is really, really good and at a time when I wasn’t really stringing a lot of matches and victories together,” he said.

For various reasons, I was able to build on the momentum that I’ve really struggled to achieve over the past year and a half.