French Open 2025: Alexander Bublik lauds Jack Draper's 'insane' and 'crazy' rise ahead of their Roland-Garros clash with Jannik Sinner test looming
Published 01/06/2025 at 11:58 GMT+1
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Alexander Bublik marvelled at Jack Draper's rise to fifth in the ATP rankings ahead of the pair's round-of-16 match at the French Open. Draper has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the rankings over the past year, upon reaching the US Open semi-final, making the final in Madrid and winning at Indian Wells. The winner of Bublik and Draper's match will likely face Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
Highlights: Draper dispatches Fonseca as breakthrough run continues
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jack Draper’s round-of-16 French Open opponent, Alexander Bublik, labelled the Briton’s rise up the rankings as "insane".
The past year has seen Draper enjoy a meteoric rise to fifth in the ATP rankings, courtesy of the 23-year-old reaching the US Open semi-finals, winning at Indian Wells and making April's Madrid Open final.
Draper has replicated his fine form at the French Open, dispatching Brazil’s Joao Fonseca 6-2 6-4 6-2 to set up a round-of-16 encounter with world No. 62 Bublik.
Ahead of the match, Bublik said: "Jack, for me, is insane. I mean, last year the guy was 40 in the world. This year he is in the top five in the world.
"That’s a crazy achievement. He doesn’t seem to stop, so I mean, what do I have to do to beat him? I don’t know.
"I will just go there, enjoy the time, show what I’m capable of showing, and we all know what I’m capable of doing on court and then we see how it goes.
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'Draper has come of age' - Watch as inspired Brit downs Fonseca to continue run
Video credit: TNT Sports
"This is the approach I have now, and Jack is a great sportsman, a great person."
Draper has been the winner on both occasions the pair have met on the ATP Tour, triumphing at Queen’s in 2021 and in Adelaide last year.
"I know him since I played him in the qualifiers of Queen’s in 2018 or something [a three-set win for Bublik in 2019]," Bublik recalled. "He was a little kid.
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"Then when he beat me in Queen’s, he told me ‘I finally got you’. I said, ‘Let’s speak when you’re in the top 50’, because he was like 300 in the world, and now he's in the top five.
"So now I have to have some courage to play, and we’ll see how it goes."
The winner of the encounter will likely face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals in Paris, provided the Italian beats Andrey Rublev in the round-of-16.
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Draper says Fonseca has 'incredibly bright future' after dominant win
Video credit: TNT Sports
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