Andy Murray's praise for Olympics hope Jack Draper

Jack Draper, the son of former Warrington Wolves chief executive Roger Draper, is one of three men selected alongside superstar Murray in Team GB for the Paris Olympics this summer.

The 22-year-old has just been elevated to number one in the British rankings and he claimed his maiden ATP Tour title on Sunday after winning the Stuttgart Open.

Roger Draper (Image: Newsquest)

Draper, whose dad was also chief executive of Sport England from 2003 to 2006 and the Lawn Tennis Association from 2006 to 2013, had lost his previous two finals but made it third time lucky with a brilliant three-set win over former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini.

“Amazing for him to win his first tournament. Obviously I’m delighted for him,” said Murray.

“This year has been a tricky year for him and it could have looked a whole lot different as well, a lot more positive than it has been because he’s lost a number of extremely close matches.

“You change a couple of those results and all of a sudden he’s up easily in the top-20 in the world. In my eyes, he’s definitely playing good enough to be right up there.

“His team, his coaches and everyone that works with him on a day-to-day basis are the ones that have helped him do that. Also his own hard work.

“He genuinely loves the sport. He is really into it, he works really hard and I think grass is a brilliant surface for him. I think he’ll do really well over the years on the surface.

“Jack, I think, has bigger goals to aspire to than being British number one. In my opinion he can get right up to the top of the game, right to the top of the world rankings.”

Draper’s run to the BOSS Open final in Stuttgart guaranteed that he would take over as British No1 from his practice partner Cameron Norrie, who had a poor clay-court campaign.

British number three Dan Evans can see similarities between Draper, whose early progress had been hindered by injuries, and Murray.

“He is a very determined young man and trains exceptionally hard,” he said.

“He reminds me quite a lot of Andy in that way. How he is very focused, driven and nothing stops that.

“It is just desserts, I think. The British number one thing was obviously inevitable at some point, but the win is a big thing for him. He hadn’t won so that is a big thing off his back and sets him up well for the grass-court season.”

In Stuttgart, Draper showed he has a game for the big stage with a 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-4 win against an opponent who was gunning for a third title in the German city.

Victory for Draper moves him up to a career high ranking of 31, which would be good enough to be seeded at Wimbledon.

He heads to Queen’s to enjoy his first outing as British number one.

London-born and based Draper said: “I am really happy to win my first title, it means so much.

“A lot of hard work, a lot of tough moments in the last year or so, it has been up and down. I am glad with the way I played and it is testament to the way I have been working.

“I have got to play in London on Tuesday so I have a day to train, there’s not a lot of time to celebrate.”