Defiant Draper: Madrid final defeat is like ‘fuel on my fire’

Jack Draper fell agonisingly short of the title on Sunday evening at the Mutua Madrid Open, but the British lefty is already preparing to utilise that pain in his bid for further success in 2025.

Speaking after his three-set defeat to Casper Ruud in the final at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000, the 23-year-old Draper was understandably disappointed. Yet he was also positive that his championship-match experience in the Spanish capital will only benefit him in the long run.

“Of course, just fresh off losing a really tough match in a final, it really hurts,” said Draper. “But at the same time, I think I've enjoyed a lot of really good successes here. I've come through a lot of matches, and so maybe this loss, and maybe being in a final and not quite getting over the line, just helps me to fuel my fire a bit more that I need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on improving.”

After missing the first few weeks of the season with injury, Draper has racked up a 19-5 record in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, including his first Masters 1000 title run in Indian Wells. Having also reached ATP Tour finals in Doha and now Madrid, the 23-year-old will on Monday climb one spot to a career-high No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, leapfrogging Novak Djokovic.

“I'm really proud of the way I've been the first few months of this season,” reflected Draper in Madrid. “I think the exciting thing is there's so much more to come from myself. I feel like there's still areas of my game that I can really improve, and that's very motivating for me and my coach and my team.

“I honestly feel like I'm at the start of my journey, so I'm going to keep on improving and keep on pushing hard and keep these sort-of tough moments in my head to keep on driving myself to be better.”

What a tournament for these two 🤩

Congratulations on an incredible run @jackdraper0 - you should be so proud 👏@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/2DkefS89fI

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 4, 2025

Ruud entered Sunday’s final chasing his 12th ATP Tour title on clay. In contrast, Draper was contesting his first tour-level final on the surface. Despite that disparity in clay-court experience, Draper impressed throughout the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, with only some minor lapses in his level proving the difference.

“I didn't feel like his level really dropped off, apart from maybe a couple of double faults he threw in,” said Draper of Ruud’s 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 triumph. “Whereas [my level at] a couple of stages in the match just dipped a little bit, and that was the difference. You can't do that, especially at this level against that kind of calibre of player, especially on the clay.

“I thought there was a lot of good stuff, but just in a couple of key moments, I felt like his level maintained and mine maybe just dipped off a little bit.”

Draper will next compete in Rome at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, before bringing his clay season to a close at Roland Garros. His opponents at both events will be wary of a player who is learning quickly on a surface on which he has relatively little experience.

“Coming here I felt really good on the court,” explained Draper. “I'm learning how to slide into the ball better. I suppose just very proud of the way my mindset is on the clay. Maybe Andy [Murray] was the same, because he did obviously so well on the clay courts as well, but it's easy from someone from, say, the U.K. who doesn't play much on the surface to think, ‘Oh, I'm not great on this. I'm not going to be any good’.

“I know that it's going to be a challenge for me, but I'm going to give it my best effort to do well on it and find ways to be effective. I'm proud of the way I've approached that, and I think with that mindset, you can go a long way. I'm very proud of that and breaking new ground.”