The Amazing Rise of Jack Draper: From injuries and working through the Challenger Tour to a grand slam Semi-Final and the biggest title of his career

The rise of current British number one, Jack Draper has been remarkable. From a world ranking of 61 at the start of the year, to a career high rise of 15 in the world, the Brit recently won his first ATP 500 event in Vienna last week after winning his first tour title in Stuttgart in May.

He won the title in Austria by beating Russian Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the final, without dropping a set along the way, but it hasnt always been plain sailing for the Brit.

Just over a year ago, Draper had to pull out of Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury that meant he was only able to win one ATP tour level match between May and November last year. He mainly navigated his way through the Challenger Tour in the second half of last year where he won a title in Bergamo, Italy and reached the Final in Orleans, France.

He did finish the end of last year as he meant to go on, losing the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Sofia against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, he then represented Great Britian in his first ever Davis Cup finals event in Malaga.

The start of this year provided Draper with similar success of that he enjoyed in Bulgaria last November. In January he made yet another ATP tour level final, losing to Jiri Lehecka in the 250 event in Adelaide.

Reaching his first ever 500 Semi-Final, the Brit hit another low after he was forced to pull out of the event in Acapulco due to an undisclosed illness, that left him only able to win one match in the three masters 1000 events that followed.

Getting his first huge break, after losing two 250 titles in the six months prior, Draper was victorious by beating Matteo Berrettini on grass in the final of Stuttgart towards the end of May at the age of 22, which helped him become British number one for the first time, the youngest player to do so since Andy Murray in 2009.

That run then took him into the British season where he beat the then world number two Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets at Queens. He followed it up by winning his first match on Centre Court at Wimbledon before losing in Round 2 to fellow Brit Cameron Norrie. He also featured in his first Olympics, losing to Taylor Fritz in Round 2 in Paris.

The biggest moment of his career too date followed as after a run too the Quarter-Final in the 1000 event in Cincinnati at the start of the American hard court season. Draper then made an unbelievable pinch yourself moment by reaching the Semi-Final of the US Open. Beating the likes of Botic van de Zandschulp who conquered world number three Carlos Alcaraz, world number 39 Tomas Macháč and number 10 Alex de Minaur all in straight sets.

His run then took him to a huge clash in the 20,000 seater Arthur Ashe stadium where he faced off against world number one Jannik Sinner. A tightly contested first and second set then resulted in the Brit's body getting the better off him, as he vomited on court three times and lost the third set comfortably.

That career changing run allowed him to feature in his second Davis Cup event in September and reach his fourth career ATP 500 Quarter-Final in Tokyo later that month.

Out of action for a month to nurse an injury he sustained in Japan, Draper entered into the 500 event in Vienna, beating Tomas Macháč, Lorenzo Musetti and Karen Khachanov all ranked inside the top 30 on route to the biggest title of his career.

The British number one will now look to continue his breakthrough year when he enters the upcoming 1000 event in Paris this coming week, as he poetically plays Jiri Lehecka who he faced at the start of this remarkable run back in January.