Jack Draper needs a “big ego” in order to compete with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, says Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Draper initially called time on his season as he nurses an arm injury, but the British No 1 is now set to make a comeback before the year’s end after agreeing to participate in the UTS Grand Final in December.

The unique event, which ditches traditional tennis rules, is the brainchild of legendary Frenchman Mouratoglou, who has coached the likes of Laura Robson, Grigor Dimitrov and more recently Naomi Osaka.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mouratoglou admits world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No 2 Jannik Sinner are way ahead of the chasing pack, but he thinks Draper has the ability and talent to compete with them in the future.

“It’s difficult to see someone compete with Alcaraz and Sinner today because there is too much of a margin, but can I see Jack in the future potentially competing with them? Yes!” Mouratoglou said.

“There are a couple of things that are important. Firstly, the margin of progress between his level and the level of the top 10 and the level of Alcaraz and Sinner. There is a big gap and they have to close that gap, so the margin of progression is very important to have if you want to be able to compete with them in the future. He has that!

“Secondly, you need to have a balanced game. If you have a weakness, they will use it because they’re too complete, so you have to be complete as well. You can’t afford to have a weakness in your game otherwise they’re going to take advantage of it and I think the fact that he’s progressed a lot on his backhand is a key element.

“And thirdly, I think you need a big ego and I say that in a positive way because to see yourself beating Alcaraz and Sinner you really have to have a big ego and 99 per cent of the players in the top 100 don’t believe it at all.”

Mouratoglou recalled the era of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal when the Swiss superstar won 11 Grand Slam titles out of 16 possible from 2004 to 2007.

The Spaniard won three out of the four Slams in 2010 and he ended his career with an unbelievable record at the French Open, 112 wins, four losses, and 14 titles. He also won a major every year since 2005 to 2014.

“It was the same situation when Roger and Rafa were dominating before Novak [Djokovic] came in,” said the 55-year-old founder of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. “They were dominating the same way and at that time a young Novak said, ‘I’m going to beat them’. He has this ego, he has this belief and he ended up doing it and becoming the greatest of all time.

“I wish this for Jack, but you need to have the belief and I think he does, so I can see him doing it. Not today, but I can imagine him competing with Alcaraz and Sinner.”

‘A win-win situation’

The British star had his breakout year in 2025, reaching a career-high ranking of world No 4, as well as winning his first ATP 1000 event at Indian Wells.

He was diagnosed with bone bruising after his defeat to Marin Cilic in the second round of Wimbledon and although the 23-year-old returned to action at the US Open with a first-round win over Federico Agustin Gomez, injury eventually forced him to pull out prior to a second-round meeting with Zizou Bergs before calling time on his season.

“I think Jack was trying to have the best possible schedule and not play too much,” Mouratoglou said. “He’s been injured in the past quite a lot and it’s a key for his future to stay injury free. He probably didn’t want to play too much and add some extra events so it’s sad that he didn’t play but the UTS event being in London is a great motivation for him to play in front of his home crowd.

“The fact that he got injured and could still compete this year is also a key for him because when you’re injured so many months, to go to practice everyday knowing you’re going to play so far away, it’s always difficult to keep the motivation. When you have a tournament not so far away, it helps a lot, and it will test his tennis when he’s been out of competition. It’s a win-win situation.”

Two key areas Draper has improved

Mouratoglou has been impressed with Draper’s progression, outlining the improvements he has made to his backhand under the tutelage of coach James Trotman.

“Draper has progressed immensely,” he said. “Just looking at the ranking it’s quite evident but I think he’s progressed in two areas mainly.

“Consistency in his game. He’s still very powerful and aggressive but with consistency, which makes a big difference and I think he’s also improved his backhand. It was an average shot in the past but I think he can do a lot with his backhand now compared to before. He’s stepping inside the court a lot and when he does, he’s very aggressive on the backhand and that makes his game much more balanced.

“Everything used to be turning around his backhand so he could play forehands but now he can hurt players on both sides – that’s the biggest improvement he’s made.”

Draper, who was the junior boys’ runner-up at Wimbledon in 2018, has been unable to progress beyond the second round and has acknowledged the need to develop his grass-court game for the future.

But Mouratoglou feels Draper “can play well on grass in the future” if he works on a few elements to fine-tune his game on the surface.

He said: “To say someone doesn’t have the game for grass, it meant a lot before because the surface was way faster, but in today’s game, yes, there are games that fit grass probably better if you’re a great returner, if you hit flatter, and if you know how to move on grass – those are key elements.

“I don’t see any problems with his game to perform on grass.”

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