Can home favourite Jack Draper win Wimbledon?

0:02Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show, the little-known castle in South London that hides a colonial past.

0:27But first, the sun is out, Marks and Spencers have launched a strawberries and cream sandwich, and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships kick off on Monday 30th June. This year, all eyes are on British favourite Jack Draper, who at the age of just 23 is already ranked fourth in the world. That's the highest-seeded Briton since Andy Murray in 2017. And Draper could be in with a chance of becoming a Grand Slam champion. Not that it will be easy, though. He's up against the sport's leading men, Carlos Alcárez and Yannick Sinner. And the Wimbledon draw, which decides the order of play, looks especially tough.

1:10Joining us now is The Standard's live sports writer, Matt Verri. Matt, a lot of the great tennis players that people will know and recognise have now retired or are heading towards the end of their careers. Who are the players to watch out for in this new era of men's tennis? Yeah, absolutely. Like you say, so long men's tennis dominated by Fedor and Radao Djokovic. Djokovic sort of looks like finally slowing down now, probably in the final stages of his career. And we sort of had an era where we thought the likes of Zverev and Tsitsipas and Medvedev, they might be the three to step up. But the longevity of Djokovic has meant that their time sort of come and gone.

1:52and we're now in a new era where Alcrez and Sinner are the clear two at the top. We'll talk about them in a bit more detail, I think, but they've won the last six Grand Slams between them. They're sort of in a league of their own and it's a battle at the moment to join them for the rest of the players to prove they can compete with them at Grand Slams. I think it's a record this year in terms of how many British players are in the main draw. Obviously, a lot of that's down to wild cards. I think excitingly, certainly heading into Wimbledon, is that you'd say Jack Draper is probably as well placed as anyone in the game at the moment to sort of one challenge them right now and hopefully he'll do that over the next two weeks but looking forward over the next decade they're all in that age group in their early 20s you do feel that Draper sort of has everything he needs to be able to challenge them over the next 10 years or so and that's obviously a very exciting thing from a British tennis perspective because so soon after Andy Murray retires, you're probably thinking, are we going to have someone who can challenge at the biggest tournament, someone to get excited about at Wimbledon?

2:52And yeah, a year later, here we are, someone with a really realistic hope from a British perspective. Jack Draper still isn't hugely well known. What are his credentials? In terms of people tuning in maybe for tennis once a year, and that being Wimbledon, what matters to them is how you do in those two weeks, right? And unless you do something extraordinary like Emma Raducanu did and you win the US Open out of nowhere but Drek Draper hasn't really had any Wimbledon success so far his first year he lost in the first round to Novak Djokovic it's probably fair enough since then he's gone out in the second round twice and that's sort of as far as he's gone in 2023 he wasn't playing due to injury so no real Wimbledon success but away from Wimbledon he's sort of established himself very much as one of the best players in the world now he's up to number four so he'll be the fourth seed at wimbledon reached the semi-finals of the us open last year in march this year he won tournament called indian wells the biggest tournament away from the grand slams and he just had a good clay court season two fourth best player in the world behind only jagra's sinner and novak djokovic still got a bit to prove in terms of never been past the second round at wimbledon he's only been past the fourth round at a grand slam once and that was at the us open last year so he's proven at the normal tournaments the rest of the year he can beat the best his body can hold up but now doing that at grand slam over two weeks best of five sets and with all the pressure that's going to come at wimbledon that's sort of the next step for him to take and the questions for jack draper in the early years of his career was always about his body his tennis was good enough to compete with the best but there are a lot of matches where he'd retire he was saying last week at queens he looked like a Ferrari but he felt like a Toyota at times in terms of his body breaking down wasn't able to do what he wanted he's now got to a stage where fitness wise he's so much stronger he still obviously hasn't done that over the full two weeks at Grand Slam and particularly if the heat stays as hot as it is at the moment that would be a big test the next step for him is to perform at Wimbledon and if he can do that then it's not going to take very long for him to become that that big name in the way that Andy Murray was and carrying that British flag for Wimbledon every year.

4:59What have those in the industry said about his chances of winning big? It seems like he has a lot of backing. Yeah absolutely it's sort of viewed almost as inevitable that he will take that next step and win a Grand Slam at some point. I think John McElmere said last month he'd be surprised if Draper didn't end up as a multiple Grand Slam champion at some stage in his career. I was speaking to Sue Barker last week and she was saying similarly she thinks that Draper's sort of the one behind Sinner and Alcaraz who can challenge them and who is sort of a grand slam champion in waiting and you sort of speak to Draper he's very modest and he sort of says I still have to prove it I haven't done enough yet you know Alcaraz and Sinner are on another level to me but then if you listen to Alcaraz or Sinner speak about it they're sort of incredibly complimentary about Draper Alcaraz has said he views Draper near enough being on their level Sinner's very close friends with Draper off the court in the same way he sort of views him as a rival at that very top level so obviously I think for Draper it's a case of he feels like he needs to prove it at a Grand Slam he's beaten Alcaraz and he's beaten Sinner away from those biggest tournaments but doing it over the best of five sets on the biggest stage that's the next step for him to take he's only 23 he's got a lot of time yet but it's very exciting that early in his career he's already at that stage where he's being talked about sort of in that category Apparently he's already being asked whether there will need to be a rebrand of the infamous Henman Hill or Murray Mount and he jokingly said it could become Draper's Dune.

6:31So how is he actually coping with the pressure of carrying the nation's hopes? That is one of the big questions. He was the British number one last year, but that was sort of overshadowed by Andy Murray retiring. This year is sort of firmly fixed Andre Pennell. He is the one as the big hope from a British perspective. He's a very chilled out guy. When you listen to him speak, you wouldn't think it phases him. And he says, you know, it's a privilege that people are talking about him as a potential champion. But obviously, from his perspective, I think he's just trying to silence that noise because it's not going to help everyone.

7:06everyone making those predictions. I think patience is important. As I said in the piece in the paper this week, Andy Murray took a fair amount of time to build towards becoming a Wimbledon champion. That was, I think, a case of gradually getting used to dealing with that pressure. Can you tell us a bit more about his rivals, Carlos Alcares and Yannick Sinner? What are they like as players? I mean, very good, very good players. They won the last six Grand Slams between them they were both in the final at the french open last month as good a final as you'll ever see it's five and a half hours alcaraz alcaraz winning there and that is the rivalry at the top everyone looks forward to those two playing i think alcaraz probably just has the edge on grass at the moment he's only had three defeats on grass in his entire career he's had more titles than he's had defeats he's obviously won wimbledon in the last two years he won at queens again last week So he's very much the person to be on grass.

8:03Sinner is dominant on hard courts. He's sort of been the one to be at the Australian Open, at the US Open. So anytime those two play, it's sort of as good as it gets in men's tennis at the moment. Moving on to women's tennis, any predictions this year? Women's tennis can be unpredictable at the best of times, but particularly at Wimbledon. It throws up results you're not expecting. Last year, we had Barbara Krajcikova win. The year before, Von Drusseva won and she was unseeded. You sort of have to look at the world number one, Sabalenka is the favorite and she's so consistent at Grand Slam. So she is the one to beat.

8:37Coco Gauff just won the French Open. She's won the US Open before, but she's never got past the fourth round at Wimbledon. She did that when she was 15 and she's never got past that since. We had the draw this morning and it's very difficult from a British perspective to be confident of many of them making it too deep. Emma Raducanu's playing another British player called Mimi Joux in the first round. but if Raducanu gets past that there's a chance she'll play Von Drusseva in the second round who as I said won in 2023 and if she gets past that it'll be probably Sabalenka the wild number one in the third round so they'll have a nightmare draw for Raducanu.

9:14Katie Boulter and Sonny Kartal as well they'll be playing seeded players so I think it'd be a sort of a surprise in terms of on paper if many of the women were able to make it sort of to the third round. Finally what about the draw for men? From a men's perspective, it is heavily reliant on Jack Draper. But the big test would be for Draper in the third round against a player called Alexander Bublik. Bublik beat Draper at the French Open last month. He's sort of incredibly unconventional, a lot of drop shots, a lot of slices. Draper spoke afterwards, or he sort of had his head muddled by it. So to face him is not ideal.

9:47And Bublik just won the tournament in Halle in the build-up to Wimbledon. So in form, in confidence, his game really suits grass. So that would be a really tough match in the third round and not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but looking beyond that, Draper would probably have to play Djokovic in the quarterfinals, Sinner in the semifinals, and then maybe Alcaraz in the final. So about as difficult as it gets, fingers crossed, he can cope with that and we can have a really enjoyable couple of weeks. Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, one of the capital's hidden gems to explore away from the London bustle with a peculiar link to South Asia.

10:25We'll see you back here in just a moment.

10:36Welcome back. Amid ancient woodland at one of the highest points in London stands an elegantly preserved Gothic tower. It's called Severndrug Castle and offers captivating views of the capital and beyond from its viewing platform. Plus, the Castle Woods are one of Britain's few remaining deciduous woodland sites, dating back over 8 ,000 years. John Darlington is the Director of Projects for the World Monuments Fund, and he joins us to explain more about the history of this hidden London gem. John, where is Severndroog Castle? It's at a place called Shooters Hill. So it's one of the highest places in south-east London.

11:21And from there, originally, you could see all the counties that surrounded London. So near Charlton, I think, and that area. Surprisingly, you have called this site London's version of India's Taj Mahal. What's the connection there? Well, there are two connections. And it's a slightly tongue-in-cheek comparison, I have to confess. Yes. Obviously, the Taj Mahal was created back in the 17th century. We all know it. We've seen it through thousands of images. It's built by Shah Jahan for his partner Mumtaz Mahal. So it's a memorial monument. So my first connection with the Taj Mahal is that Sevendrew Castle is constructed in 1784 by someone called Lady Anne James.

12:04And Lady Anne James was married to someone called Sir William James. And she has this castle constructed as a memorial to her husband, who very sadly dies at the age of 63 during their daughter's wedding in 1783. So the first comparison is she's constructed this little triangular petite castle on the hill of their estate overlooking London as a memorial to her beloved husband. The other connection is that the person that she gets to design the castle is someone called Richard Jupp. And Richard Jupp is an architect who builds around this period, the 18th century. And he builds a number of buildings, including Paines Hill House in Surrey.

12:50and I think the hospital wings of St Guy's Hospital. But his main claim to fame is that he's the preferred architect of the East India Company. The reason she uses Jupp is because her now deceased husband was actually a very famous commodore in the East India Company. The most dramatic, the most famous moment in his career is when he has a successful action on the west coast of India at a place called Suvarna Durg. And of course, Suvarna Durg translates in its own way to Severn Durg. So it's a celebration of an action that takes place on the coast of India. And so that's our second connection.

13:33We have a connection through, it's a memorial, but we also have a connection through obviously the continent and country of India. And it's not so much a castle in the traditional sense, is it? Yes, that's right. It's very definitely built in the tradition of a folly. So it's something to be looked at. Clearly, it's a memorial, but it's a very elegant memorial. This is brick built, triangular, pocket castle meant to be seen. And it's meant to acknowledge, obviously, William James. It's not a defensive castle at all. Anyone with any sense, a few arms, a few people could take it. So it's this decorative thing in the landscape.

14:11but later on when the James is no longer in possession of the land it goes through a succession of owners and because of its high location it becomes this really useful point from which to help map the first maps of London so you have this kind of amazing mapping program which takes place during the 1800s in the UK in England and this becomes one of the trig points the points from which London is mapped. Later on, it goes into the ownership of London County Council, as was then in about the 1920s. They purchase it for£6 ,000. It becomes a tea room, it becomes a place which people can visit. It becomes a place actually where enemy planes were spotted during World War II, because again, it's this high, high location.

15:00It's known as many, many things, a castle, a folly, a memorial, a lookout point. I like the word the Belvedere, because a Belvedere, I think, really summarises for me what it's about today, because Belvedere comes from the Italian, which means Bella Vista, and Bella Vista means beautiful views. And I just like the idea that this Belvedere gives beautiful views across the city of London. Finally, what would the views from the tower have been like when it was first built? That's a great question. I mean, when it was first constructed, you've got to imagine that London didn't actually stretch in the sense that it does today.

15:36Essentially, you would have climbed up the tower. You wouldn't have had perhaps so many trees around it at the time because the trees were grown up. And you would have seen the cityscape of London. You'd seen London in the distance. You'd have seen the nearby villages and towns and country houses. And as I said, you would have actually been able to see visually, although there's no particular marker, you'll have seen all the counties from Kent to Suffolk to Essex and so on and so forth, which surround London.

16:09And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. If you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. We'll be back here on Monday at 4pm. We'll see you then. Thank you.