Draper and Fearnley renew old friendship in heat of Melbourne

In the quiet mountainous Czech town of Roznov pod Radhostem, home to only 16,000 people, some of the best junior players under the age of 12 in Europe converged in February 2013 for the prestigious European Indoor Championships, a team event also known as the Winter Cup. After three days of competition, the final round between Great Britain and Serbia went down to the wire in a decisive doubles rubber before Jack Draper and Jacob Fearnley emerged victorious over Kristijan Juhas and Mihailo Popovic in two tight sets.

In the early days the paths of Draper and Fearnley were intertwined. They first met when they were about 10 years old and their first battle came under an inflatable indoor bubble on the green clay courts of the Gosling Sports Park in Welwyn Garden City, just as they were making the transition from the softer junior balls to fully pressurised yellow balls.

As two of the outstanding players of their age groups in Britain, Draper and Fearnley spent much of their time between the ages of 10 and 14 tussling in singles before joining forces in doubles and team competitions around the world, iron constantly sharpening iron. “We played each other all the time,” says Draper. “We travelled under-12s, we won the Winter Cup under-12s and we must have played each other 30-, 50-plus times. And he’d get the better of me a lot and then I’d get him sometimes. It was a really healthy dynamic we had back then. And we were travelling, we were young, good friends.”

During their triumph in Roznov, it was Fearnley who led the team as their No 1 singles player and won his match. Draper, who lost the opening singles rubber, was the second player. This was often the hierarchy: “When I was younger my parents always said to me: ‘Why can’t you just behave like Jacob?’ says Draper. “We were under-12s, under-14s and he would always be very level headed, very calm and most of the time he would get the better of me when we were playing.”

In the years since those junior days, their paths deviated sharply, but on Friday they converged again as the last remaining British players in the third round of the Australian Open and the two players who will lead British men’s tennis post-Andy Murray for many years to come. While Draper, the 15th seed, will play against Aleksandar Vukic, Fearnley will stare down Alexander Zverev, the second seed. Their contrasting journeys show there are many different pathways to success.

View image in fullscreen Jack Draper reached the US Open semi-finals in 2024 before losing to the eventual champion, Jannik Sinner. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

As his junior career began to flourish, Draper, who comes from Sutton, took a conventional path towards the top of the game. After reaching the junior Wimbledon final and breaking into the top 10 of the International Tennis Federation rankings, he quickly set his sights on the professional tour. While he has had to navigate physical health struggles since leaving the junior circuit, the 23-year-old was always destined for the top. “He went way higher than me,” says Fearnley.

While Fearnley, who was born in Edinburgh, enjoyed a solid junior career, peaking at No 27 in the ITF rankings, he was not ready for the professional circuit. He opted to spend his time studying kinesiology and competing in college for Texas Christian University, where he pieced together an outstanding college career before setting his sights on the pro tour.

“When you first go to college, that’s not really what you set out straight out of the gate as soon as you leave, but I went to college because I still wanted to play professional tennis afterwards. I just didn’t feel ready physically, emotionally,” says Fearnley.

skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to The Recap Free weekly newsletter The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion

Since committing fully to the professional circuit last June, his rise has been remarkable. A surprise champion at the Nottingham Challenger seven months ago while ranked outside the top 500, the 23-year-old has won four ATP Challenger titles and compiled a 42-10 win-loss record. He will rise to at least No 77 after the Australian Open and he has only just scratched the surface of his potential. However it ends, a match against the world No 2 on Margaret Court Arena will be another essential experience.

“We haven’t spoken loads because we went on our own different journeys, but it’s really nice to see a familiar face,” says Draper. “He’s an incredible player and he’s not going to stop just inside the top 100. He’s going to really get right to the top of the game.”

During Draper’s march through the US Open draw last August to his first grand slam semi-final, his childhood rival, former doubles partner and national teammate keenly watched every match from afar. Four months later they are in the same draw, battling to reach the second week of the Australian Open and inspiring each other as they did in their youth.

“It’s really cool to look back on the past and then see where we are now,” says Fearnley. “We do our own thing. We’re trying to get as far as we can, but it’s great to see him around this place.”

Click here to read article