By Shrivathsa Sridhar
BENGALURU, March 6 (Reuters) - Jack Draper has the talent and tools to rejoin an elite group of challengers following an injury layoff and the Briton only needs to regain the rhythm that players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner already possess, his new coach Jamie Delgado said.
Draper will play his second tournament of the year when he defends his Indian Wells title this week, the 24-year-old eager to kick-start his season after being out of action since late August with
a persistent arm problem.
Delgado, who coached former world number one Andy Murray from 2016 to 2021, noted that the brightest players in the men's game are continually expanding their skillsets and said Draper was working along the same lines.
"Every player is always trying to add to their game and Alcaraz is probably the only one who has got all of the skills honed in," Delgado, who joined Draper's team in October, told Reuters via video call.
"His (Draper) best has been a semi-final at the U.S. Open in 2024, which was an amazing performance. Since he's really pushed on to that elite level, which he did pre-injury, it's (the aim is) to get back on the court and get consistency.
"It's important that you've got that tennis behind you. I think he's just a bit behind those guys just through being out of the game. In terms of his game, he's in a great place to do well in those tournaments."
BREAKTHROUGH WIN
Draper's breakthrough triumph came in the Californian desert 12 months ago, his maiden ATP 1000 title fuelling his climb to a career-high number four in the world. He is now 14th and arrives for his title defence after an early exit in Dubai last week.
The left-hander said he was not lowering his expectations and that he had the belief he could go all the way again.
"That was probably the primary reason I didn't go out to Australia," Draper told reporters of his withdrawal from the year's first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
"If I'm going to enter a tournament, I'm going to be in the event, I want to feel like I can be physically ready to not just take part but to go all the way.
"I believe in my tennis so much that when I get out there, I know that I can play some great stuff."
Delgado said he was not surprised that Draper's goals were unchanged on his return but said as a coach he was more focused on the day-to-day work to build up for the big occasion.
"That's exciting from my side," Delgado said.
"He has got some scope for improvement there, and hopefully that will show when he is in those situations again."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru)
