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Tim Henman has backed Jack Draper to emerge as the biggest challenger to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner despite the British star’s injury troubles.
The top two’s stranglehold on men’s tennis has strengthened in 2025, with Alcaraz and Sinner sharing the grand slam titles for the second year in a row and losing just 13 matches between them, including five to each other.
There is as big a gap in the rankings between world number two Sinner and three Alexander Zverev as there is between the German and Denis Shapovalov in 23rd.
Sitting in ninth is British number one Draper, who defeated Alcaraz on his way to winning the biggest tournament of his career in Indian Wells in March and climbing into the top four.
That made Draper arguably the most in-form player in the game, with Sinner serving a three-month doping ban and Alcaraz in a dip, but the Spaniard has been almost untouchable since, winning the French and US Opens and competing against Sinner in three straight slam finals.
Draper, meanwhile, has once again been left sat frustrated on the sidelines, playing just one match since Wimbledon because of bone bruising in his left humerus.
Henman, though, had no hesitation when asked who might step up to provide competition for Alcaraz and Sinner.
“The obvious one that I would hope is Jack Draper,” said Henman, who is part of Netflix’s coverage of this week’s Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, to the PA news agency.
“For the first half of the year he was playing some brilliant tennis and he was in the conversation, he beat Alcaraz in Indian Wells, so it’s frustrating that he’s had this injury problem.
“Hopefully he can start to build next season and start getting to the latter stages of the slams. Obviously Wimbledon and US Open were underwhelming because of his arm.
“It emphasises how important it is to be 100 per cent fit and healthy because the top two players in the world are, I think, at a different level tennis wise, and so you’ve got to be firing on all cylinders.”
Draper appeared to have moved past the persistent injury problems that had dogged him but this season has been a step back, with the 24-year-old troubled by a hip problem at the start of the season before the arm began to bother him in the spring.
He stepped away from the court after Wimbledon and an attempt to return for the US Open was quickly aborted after only one match, with Draper then calling an early end to his season.
“It’s paramount that Jack gets back fit and healthy,” said Henman. “Jack had struggled with some injury issues but he’d rectified that.
“I think this is a little bit more of a freak injury. Bone bruising, it’s not something that you hit one shot and then your body breaks down.
“It’s such an important part of your physical endurance to be able to play week in, week out and build momentum on the match court. Jack’s aware of that, physically he’s put in so much good work and he has been physically far better on the tour so I think this one’s a bit unfortunate.
“He’ll be looking to build momentum in 2026.”
Draper had been due to join Alcaraz and Sinner at the lucrative six-man Six Kings Slam, which is part of the Riyadh Season, but was forced to pull out.
Having begun the season chasing Sinner, Alcaraz looks set to finish it decisively on top of the standings after extending his advantage in their rivalry to 10-5 by winning the US Open final.
Sinner’s only victory in their last eight meetings came in the Wimbledon final, and the Italian said after losing in New York that he would work on adding more variety to his game in a bid to match his rival.
Henman said: “I think the US Open final was a very good example of Alcaraz showing that he’s got extra strings to his bow.
“Sinner had been so good, so consistent and so efficient at beating all the other players just using really his serve and his forehand and his backhand but I think the US Open final emphasised how that’s probably not enough against Alcaraz , because he has the variation, he can use the serve and volley, come forward and finish the points at the net.
“I think he’s more comfortable with the slice backhand and using the drop shot. But Sinner’s got such a good team and he’s such a good competitor, he was the first to recognise he’s got to bring those extra dimensions.”
English (US) ·