Dan Evans has revealed that he made a plea for Jack Draper to step up and lead the men’s Davis Cup team before Andy Murray retired.
Draper became the British No. 1 just weeks before Murray ended his career at the Olympics this summer. He recently entered the top 20 thanks to his US Open semi-final run.
And the 22-year-old is already in Manchester to represent the British squad, even though Evans claims some “people in his team” didn’t want him to go.
Draper arrived in Manchester on Tuesday – just four days after losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of the US Open and a day after landing back in the UK. The top-ranked Brit was adamant that he wanted to step up for his country and is expected to play his first match against Argentina on Friday.
His dedication has impressed team veteran Evans, who admitted that he had a conversation with Draper last year, asking him to step up and commit to the Davis Cup. “I said to Jack last year, ‘Please, it’s going to be up to you, please take it (seriously)’,” the 34-year-old said.
“He doesn’t need me to ask him but I just think it’s important for him to hear that it is an important event still and he is going to be the one who’s holding the baton. And they’re going to have a good team soon. They’ve got some good young players coming, Jacob Fearnley and these guys, with Jack as number one.”
Former world No. 21 Evans believes Draper has already proved his devotion by turning up after his US Open run. He continued: “There’s people, and rightly so, in his team, who maybe don’t want him to be exerting energy this week because he’s got big tournaments but it’s for the country and he’s got himself up here and he’s as into it as anybody on the team.
“You saw his celebrations last year in the car with Andy, I’m pretty sure he’s passionate about Davis Cup.”
Evans was referring to a hilarious video that Draper shared after Britain’s success in the group stage 12 months ago, which allowed them to progress to the Davis Cup Finals. Murray gave the 22-year-old a lift home and Draper played DJ, selecting the music for the ride.
