Jack Draper waits to be announced for his semifinal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Saturday, March 15, 2025.

tennis

Jack Draper Topples Novak Djokovic En Route to Latest ATP Rankings Surge at Madrid Open 2025

Draper is the British No. 1 on the ATP Tour.

Jack Draper waits to be announced for his semifinal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Saturday, March 15, 2025.

Southpaw superstar Jack Draper has reached a new high on the ATP circuit. On Thursday, he officially achieved his career-high ranking – sending Novak Djokovic tumbling down the ladder in the process. When the new rankings are released on Monday, the British young gun will be World No. 5 for the first time in his career. As ‘Draper Top-5’ trends, it will be intriguing to see how the 23-year-old performs at the upcoming Roland Garros Championships.

Thursday’s quarterfinals action saw Draper taking on Matteo Arnaldi – the man who overhauled Djokovic in the second round. Draper produced a dominant display to defeat his Italian opponent 6-0 6-4 on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium. Yet to drop a set all tournament, the ATP’s brand new Top-5 player has beaten the likes of Matteo Berrettini, Tommy Paul and now Arnaldi en route to the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.

Draper Breaks Into ATP Top-5

On Monday, Jack Draper will be a Top-5 player when the PIF ATP Rankings are released. His annihilation of Arnaldi means that Draper has now entered his first tour-level semifinal on clay. The US Open semi-finalist will also become just the fourth British player to reach the Top-5 – after Andy Murray (No. 1), Tim Henman (No. 4) and Greg Rudedski (No. 4).

After Great Britain failed to produce a single Top-5 player in the 2010s, Draper is set to end the barren run. He came into Madrid as the World No. 6, having started 2025 at No. 15 in the world. However, a poor outing for the 24-time Grand Slam winning ‘Nole’ and a career-best clay court performance for Draper has resulted in a terrific turn of events and rankings.

Jack Draper has overtaken Novak Djokovic in the world rankings 📈 pic.twitter.com/CkbNhezJZK
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) May 1, 2025

Draper, who is just the second left-handed player to crack the Top-5 in this century after Rafael Nadal, can move within touching distance (25 points) of the No. 4 ranking if he wins the trophy at the Spanish capital. The Brit faces the in-form Lorenzo Musetti on Friday for a spot in the summit clash.

Draper Enjoys ‘Bullying’ Opponents

After his historic win, Jack Draper spoke to Sky Sports about the importance of emerging victorious. “I feel stronger every time I play,” he said. “The last couple of years coming onto the clay, I felt against these guys I’d always be the one on the back foot, I’d always be the one defending.”

“The best part of my game was just getting strong, getting more capable physically to do the things I know I can do and bully these guys. My forehand is doing a lot of damage and I want to keep it up. I have been doing everything pretty well in all areas and I’m excited to keep on going. Hopefully it keep coming together.”

Jack Draper faces Lorenzo Musetti on Friday for a spot in the 2025 Madrid Open final.

ATP

Great Britain

Jack Draper

Lorenzo Musetti

Madrid Open

Matteo Arnaldi

Novak Djokovic

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.