British rising star Jack Draper has had a stop-start season and recruited a renowned former South African tennis player to rekindle his career before the French Open.
Draper is one of the most promising tennis talents from the UK who has achieved a career-high ranking of World no. 37, but is currently hovering just outside the world’s Top 40.
As reported by the Telegraph, the 22-year-old has hired Wayne Ferreria to provide new ideas to his coaching team. Draper has been working with the Lawn Tennis Association’s James Trotman since the tail end of 2021.
Ferreira is a prominent name, who is considered one of the greatest African tennis players of all time, peaking at a career-high ranking of No. 6 in 1995. He won 15 titles on the ATP tour during a 16-year playing career and was a silver medalist in doubles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The 52-year-old is part of an exclusive club of players who own a winning head-to-head record over Roger Federer and once set the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam appearances between the 1991 Australian Open and the 2004 US Open (56).
Since retiring from the sport, Ferreira has remained active on tour, notably coaching Frances Tiafoe since 2020. He helped the American break the world’s Top 10 and guided him to a maiden Grand Slam semifinal at the 2022 US Open.
But after the modest 2023 season, Tiafoe and Ferreira split. The South African worked briefly with Yibing Wu, but the Chinese’s injury struggles in the second half of last year meant that their partnership was short-lived.
That has allowed Draper to pounce, as Ferreria will bring a lot of experience to his coaching setup. The former World No. 6 was also a durable athlete in his playing days, which is a big plus for the British player who has struggled to stay fit in his young career.
