2 weeks ago
8
For all his sparkling tennis here last year, Jack Draper - in that baggy purple outfit - had the look of a boy trying to fit into a bigger man’s clothing.
Not this time. His new clothing sponsor Vuori have provided the 23-year-old with a sleeveless grey number and the guns are well and truly on show.
As a left-hander, Draper grew up idolising Rafael Nadal. He has a similarly enormous forehand and now has the sawn-off shirt and bulging biceps to match.
‘It feels good,’ Draper said of his new outfit. ‘I suppose the tat (a lightning bolt on his bicep) comes out. It's a really cool kit and I’m so happy to be wearing it, to be honest. Rafa was one of my idols and you’ve just got to own it when you're out there.’
He added, to the BBC: ‘I grew up watching Rafa with the sleeveless but there have been many years when I would have been laughed off the court because my arms weren’t ready for that sort of showing. Now I feel a little bit better.’
We had not seen Draper in action since Wimbledon, so it caused quite the social media stir when his arms were unveiled in the mixed doubles event last week. So, did the world No5 spend his time off with injury pumping iron in the gym?
British No 1 Jack Draper has bulked up significantly ahead of this year's US Open
His impressive new physique is in contrast to how he looked at last year's tournament
‘I don’t do bench press,’ insisted Draper. ‘I'm not training to be Mr Olympia (a bodybuilding title). When people see athletes and they're like, oh, they must have been in the gym. But we're still young, we're still developing and if you don't see us for two months there's going to be development happening.’
Nadal’s bulging arms were very much the exception that proved the rule in tennis, where the lean and flexible body shape of Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner is more the prototype. Draper will never be like that - he is built on a naturally substantial scale - but he must make sure he does not bulk up too much and lose agility.
‘I always make sure I'm not doing anything that's risky or going to jeopardise the fact that I can play,’ he said. ‘I don't want to get too big.
‘With my genetics, I'm sort of growing out instead of up now. I've definitely got that body type where I can get really strong quite quickly.’
As he continues to sculpt his body, Draper could not have two better men in his corner than fitness trainer Matt Little and physio Shane Annun, both of whom spent over a decade working with Andy Murray. And his team have Draper working with Murray’s secret fitness weapon - the Versaclimber. The workout machine has you moving your arms and legs at the same time, a little like climbing a ladder.
‘A lot of Versaclimber, a lot,’ said Draper. ‘I've probably done near to 50 sessions this year. It’s very difficult.’
A little of Nadal and a little of Murray – Draper certainly knows how to choose his idols.
