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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Majendie

Jack Draper and Katie Boulter hit top form with title double to raise British hopes ahead of Wimbledon

Just as Andy Murray prepares to sign off from professional tennis, the indicators are the British public have reasons to cheer.

A few hours and about 700 miles apart, Jack Draper picked up his first ATP Title in Stuttgart, while Katie Boulter was also a winner on grass, successfully defending her Nottingham title.

First, Boulter had to recover from a set down to win her all-British clash against Emma Raducanu, scheduled for Saturday and then delayed by rain, before returning a few hours later to beat Karolina Pliskova. Their wins leave Draper and Boulter ranked 31st in the world and on the brink of being seeded for their home Grand Slam at Wimbledon in two weeks' time.

Draper is also British No1 for the first time after Cameron Norrie's ongoing demise, although the British No2 will hope to return to winning ways today at Queen's Club against Milos Raonic.

"It's a real honour to be in that position and hopefully I can be No1 for many years to come," said Draper. "In all honesty, I wasn't thinking about it this year."

Twice he had come close to ATP titles, only to come unstuck in Sofia in November and in Adelaide in January. As for celebrations, he said there would be none as he hopped on a plane straight back to London ahead of his opening-round match at Queen's tomorrow. Part of his prize was an electric bike, which he joked he would have repainted in Batman black to ride down Putney High Street.

Like Draper, Boulter has little time to rest on her laurels, as she turns her attention to the Birmingham Classic tomorrow.

But having won back-to-back titles in Nottingham, she said: "This is a bit of deja-vu. I'm not sure if I'm dreaming or if this just happened. This place has a special place in my heart and it has been an incredible week."

It was also a day when Draper and Boulter were named in the British team for the Olympics, alongside the likes of Murray.

But Raducanu opted against selection, despite earning a wildcard from the International Tennis Federation as a former Grand Slam champion, deciding the risk to her recently frail body of switching to clay not one worth taking.

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