Jack Draper achieved comfortably the biggest payday of his career so far as he pocketed £431,000 for winning the Ultimate Tennis Showdown’s Grand Final in London.
The sole Brit in the eight-man field at tennis’ answer to T20 cricket, the 21-year-old Londoner only made the draw by virtue of a wildcard.
But he lived up to that invitation as he went through the three-day event unbeaten, eventually beating Holger Rune in the final.
UTS is a shortened format of the game with each match consisting of just eight-minute quarters, with no second serves, narrowed nets and a DJ playing music throughout in a bid to appeal to a younger audience for the sport.
Draper defeated two of the young stars of the men’s game in Casper Ruud in the semi-final and then Rune come the final to end his 2023 season on a high having been sidelined for much of it with injury.
“It’s a really fun event, they did an amazing job,” said Draper, who played with the nickname ‘The Power’ in homage to Phil Taylor, the darts player with the same moniker.
The format comes with no rules about player behaviour and there was a spat in the semi-final between Andrey Rublev and Rune.
