Pinnington Jones: From drives with Draper to his own ride at Wimbledon

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Pinnington Jones: From drives with Draper to his own ride at Wimbledon

Learn more about the 22-year-old wild card

Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA Jack Pinnington Jones is set for his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon. By Grant Thompson

Jack Pinnington Jones fondly remembers the early mornings when Jack Draper would pick him up for training. Draper, then 17 years old, would swing by Pinnington Jones’ house around 6:15 a.m. and make the 45-minute drive to the LTA National Tennis Centre in southwest London. The catch? Pinnington Jones’ practice did not start until 11.

So why the brutally early start and hours of waiting?

“He can’t sit in traffic, or he’d hate to sit in traffic,” Pinnington Jones said of Draper, speaking with ATPTour.com earlier this month. “He’d also have to be doing something. So I’d be there at 7 a.m. with nothing to do. That’s sort of how we met, got on really well. He’s a good friend of mine and I always chat to him and get his opinion.”

Those drives sparked a bond between the two Jacks. Draper was new behind the wheel and also just beginning his professional career on the ATP Challenger Tour. Meanwhile, in the passenger seat, Pinnington Jones was sharpening his skills as a teenager, just 15 months younger than Draper.

It is a fun, full-circle memory for the two Britons, both set to compete at Wimbledon this fortnight. Draper carries the home hopes as the fourth seed while Pinnington Jones prepares for his major main-draw debut.

The 22-year-old Pinnington Jones completed his junior season at Texas Christian University in May and will not return to college. Instead, he is turning pro.

“Me and my coach have a little joke that, ‘I’ll go pro after Wimbledon’. Like, let me just enjoy this time and still be a bit of an amateur and soak up all the experience,” Pinnington Jones said. “And then come end of Wimbledon, it’s my profession. It’s exciting. It’s obviously quite scary as well.”

By attending TCU, Pinnington Jones followed the path of countrymen Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley, who both attended the university in Fort Worth and are now inside the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Pinnington Jones and Fearnley even lived together for two years.

“He was always the guy that I looked up to in my college career that really made sure he maximised everything he got on the tennis court and in the gym,” Pinnington Jones said of his friend Fearnley.

Last season, Fearnley enjoyed a rapid breakthrough on the ATP Challenger Tour, posting a 27-3 match record at that level, including four titles. Fearnley also turned heads at Wimbledon by taking a set off seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Centre Court in a second-round clash.

“I remember chatting to [Jake] a lot last year because I was playing some Challengers as well and just seeing how well he was doing, he just said that he found some belief and that he was just taking it one match at a time. I think that’s sort of my logic,” Pinnington Jones said. “I mean, I’m trying to be Jack Pinnington Jones. I have great role models and people to talk to.”

Shot of the season? Watch Pinnington Jones' epic diving winner at the Nottingham Challenger:

Pinnington Jones has competed in just four Challenger events this season, highlighted by a run to the Ilkley final two weeks ago. At a career-high No. 282 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Pinnington Jones is also a repeat qualifier for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator, which focuses on increasing the development pathway for top players in the American collegiate system.

"I definitely think playing these Challengers for college guys and young juniors is so invaluable and it’s really creating a pathway, just like golf would do with their PGA Tour cards," Pinnington Jones said.

"I think it’s what tennis needs. I think it’s essential that we keep pushing young talent and growing the game that way as well. I think it’s great and I always love seeing college guys and young guys do well. It’s always inspiring and it pushes me to want to do just as well."

Pinnington Jones’ earliest memories with the sport date back to age seven when he would play with a sponge ball in Tunbridge Wells, alongside one of his three younger sisters.

It did not take him long to fall in love with tennis. Soon he was hitting against a wall nonstop. It was during this time that Pinnington Jones was — as he puts it — “obsessed with” Andy Murray, former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

At age 12, Pinnington Jones began to realise he had something special in tennis. He reached the final of the Open Super 12 Auray, a prestigious junior tournament in France. That same year, 2015, the Auray draw featured future stars like Holger Rune, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Hamad Medjedovic, whom Pinnington Jones beat in the round of 16. It was one of Pinnington Jones’ first trips abroad to compete in a tennis tournament.

Pinnington Jones will not have to travel far this week. But the stakes will be as high as they have ever been for the player who is beginning his professional tennis career.

“I think for me, the main thing is, I’m only 22 once and I’m getting to play all these cool tournaments and don’t treat it like it’s life or death,” Pinnington Jones said. “It’s just tennis, but I want to try and maximise what I can do.”

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