Inside the National Tennis Centre | Ep. 4 | Ft. Jack Draper, Dahnon Ward & Jodie Burrage

welcome back to the national tennis center the home of our top British tennis talents coming up this month we catch up with British men's number one Jack Draper to hear all about his year so far and the work that I'm doing and the team I've got around me I I really believe that I can be one of those top players in the world d w chats about what he's most looking forward to at the par Olympics uh no comment can Ryan penniston get to the top of the leaderboard in The Bucket List Challenge and we get to know the real Jody barage I'm not going to pick one I'm going to pick two um Freya Christie and Kate Balter Welcome to our on court Studio here at the national tennis center it has been an incredible grass cour season for you hasn't it let's rewind to the very beginning of it where you lifted your first trophy in stutgart so what impact did that have on your sort of mindset going forward yeah a lot um you know before STG I'd had quite a lot of tough matches um you know I've been playing a lot but I've been playing a lot of top players early on in the draw so I wasn't able to um come through them um and then I kind of after the fren open I knew I was in a better place than my results was telling me um and yeah just kept on with what I was doing uh obviously went to stockart and I played five really great matches against great players to to sort of come through and I think you know winning the title there um meant the well to me gave me a lot of confidence you know it was something where I'd made the final twice before a 250 and I hadn't quite gotten over the line on the tour aspect so um just gave me so much more confidence and I I feel a lot calmer because of the winning toour so then you went straight on to Queens not that much time to recover but in the second round best win of your career against Carlos alcar so have you had a bit of time to reflect on that victory yeah I mean I think it was like just a really busy 10 days you know obviously coming off my first title and then sort of catching the flight you know with all the emotions of of winning the there and and the next day was straight into training and then match the next day and then obviously playing Carlos there was a bit of um you know attention on that match and I played him twice before once was really close and then the other time I was a bit injured so I wasn't able to to really see but obviously you know he's he's young guy he's an amazing talent so good for the sport and um you know to to go up against him at Queen's you know home crowd home environment uh was was unbelievable it was obviously his first tournament on grass after winning the so you know you got to keep that in mind that it is a Grass Court as well um but it was an amazing experience and um I thought I played a good match and um yeah obviously went on to win wimon so fair play to him so as a result of all of that Grass Court success you now have a new number next to your name British number one I know that's been something that you've been working towards for a really long time how does it feel to finally be in that position yeah I mean I I didn't really think about it actually until it happened um my coach coach told me I was going to be Brit number one I think after cam lost one week and uh you know my goal was obviously to to be a top player you know I didn't know if that was going to be British number one if there was someone ahead of me then fair enough but um my goal was to always be you know top 20 top 10 player in the world um and you know if British number one came with that you know that's something that's you know obviously a huge privilege and a big honor for any British player so um very very happy to be in this position and hopefully I can keep it that way and it was a ranking spot that was held by Andy Murray for much of your Junior career um and I saw after your your Wimbledon exit you you stayed on to honor him which I thought was you know very special how much has he impacted your career yeah so much um you know it started off when I was younger watching Andy you know Wim wimon win the Olympics uh he lost in the final against feder in 2012 you know I was there to watch all those matches and kind of live his career when I was younger as it was happening for him um you know he's someone who's inspired me and so many others you know massive amounts I wouldn't be I wouldn't be playing if it wasn't for Andy honestly um and then obviously getting to know him as the the person he is when he's been injured at the NTC um you know he's incredibly genuine funny um and just a real character so mix that with being an incredible Champion the guy's just um he's a legend really um so I think I I owe him a lot but hopefully after he finish his career you know he'll still be around to help out a lot so taking off goals for fun at the moment British number one first ATP title what's next in your goal list I want to I want to be a top top 20 player um you know I think currently I'm 26 in the world you know I'd like to I'd like to to get to the top 20 and then I think from there honestly um I have so much belief in myself and and the work that I'm doing and the team I've got around me I really believe that I can be one of those top players in the world um competing for for big titles so that's that's what I'm going for something that I know means a lot to you is representing your country at the Davis Cup Leon wants you back in the team for Manchester what are your memories from your debut appearance at the Davis Cup yeah I mean it was it was such a special experience you know I don't think many many players can say their their first match was in in a home environment with 13,000 people watching and cheering you on um you know it's kind of really befitting for me um and I was I was just overcome with emot like happy to have that experience the Davis Cup's always been um something with with huge history um obviously we want it back in 2015 I think with Andy so to be in that team with with him Dan cam um and obviously Neil um was was just yeah it was an incredible experience all right well thank you so much and yeah best of luck in your future endeavors thank you so much [Music] singles or doubles uh singles baguette or quason quason swimming or cycling uh swimming got cycle track or field uh track Alfie hu or Golden Green uh no comment Eiffel Tower or Ark the TR uh Eiffel Tower it's got to be Ron garos or wimbl wimon easy gold or grand SL gold medal I think yeah make sure you're watching the world tennis at the Paris par Olympic Games forget grand slams and ranking points this is the competition that really matters aiming to get their name as high up a bucket list as possible players have 30 seconds to hit as many balls as they can into the bucket they must stand on the spot and if the ball bounces back out it doesn't count three two one go come on [Music] [Music] stop no no all right Ryan congratulations our third bucket challenge participant and two balls in the bucket which puts you middle of the pack joint second thoughts I'll take it I mean there's only three of us so far but I'll take second it is also joint laugh h You' have to say that all right well thank you for taking part no worries all right Jody quick five questions you ready yep okay what was the first gig that you went to I think Jason Derulo if you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be um purely because I'm obsessed with making it right now but like there's like a chicken oo chicken and turo oo kind of dish that I'm doing so that because I'm having it every single day right now goto series to watch on a long flight I love the Vampire Diaries cannot go wrong yeah you can't I'm glad you said that um what's your favorite podcast um I actually don't really listen to them the only one I've listened to is like the Peter Crouch one with Ben he's made me listen so that's that one a film that makes you laugh what's the new one the other day it's like the ROM um it's got Sweeney in it anyway that movie I can't remember what it is unbelievable like like you've got the romance but the comedy is funny which player did you most admire growing up Andy Murray um would probably be be that person um for what he did for British tennis and women's tennis introvert or extrovert I'd say more of an extra which music artist are you obsessed with right now Morgan Wellen the country singer oh that's bit different love my country your favorite thing about being a tennis player the travel um I love going to different places um and I love where my JG places me and I love being in the sun which British player are your closest mates with I'm not going to pick one I'm going to pick two um Freya Christie and Kate Bolter um we come as a three your first tennis memory my first tennis memories I would say actually is atwi wooden when I was about 9 10 years old I did like a middle Saturday kind of playing on the courts thing I don't I can't even remember why but I've got photos and I remember going with my parents and yeah I was like 10 1011 so that's where it started oh was it the Robinson's thing maybe something like that yeah yeah okay your favorite lesson at school um I mean PE was one of my favorite favorite lessons at school but also geography because I love my geography teacher last book you read Colin r Hoover Hoover Colin Hoover it starts with us good book yeah your favorite sport that isn't tennis probably should say rugby I was going to say you're in trouble if you don't say rugby don't say rugby okay any nicknames J J buzzer Jay buzzer I know explain that one oh that was just one when we were really young I was creating an email and all of my brothers are buzzers so yeah I know that's what I was came from what's your go-to party trick um well I would say the Worm but I'm not going to prove it to you because of my wrist that was going to be my followup so which player on tour would you most want to cook you dinner I think I'd probably want to have dinner with Coco gol one I feel like she's good at everything so I feel like she would be good at cooking but two it just be I think unbelievable to chat to her in that sense I feel like she's so grown up so young got so many different things going on just love to have four of a conversation favorite surface to play on grass favorite tournament wi wooden dream double partner oh okay mix Andy which I actually did at Battle of the Brits which was unbelievable and then women's doubles maybe like Anna Evanovich or something I always loved her of watching her grow up so yeah I think I think I'd love to play The Who do you WhatsApp the most bolts and Freya in our WhatsApp group read rece probably should say Ben but girls read receipts on or off on and if you weren't a tennis player what would you be I would want to say something like a psychologist but criminal psychology or something like that I did it for a level I did psychologies an a level and when I thought I was going to University that's what I was going to do um so something like that or a lawyer but um yeah so post tennis career in criminal psychology yeah that involves going back to school but um probably won't do that all right great well thank you so much thank you and that is all we've got time for today but make sure you like And subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes