Sunshine Double 2026: What next for British number ones Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu?
With Indian Wells completed and Miami now underway, there were mixed fortunes for the top-ranked British tennis players on their respective tours.
Here, Sports New Blitz writer and tennis obsessive AJ Becker takes a look at their seasons so far, and the possible implications of recent results.
Jack Draper
Indian Wells triumph
As the son of a former Lawn Tennis Association chief executive, Jack Draper’s potential had long been known; this time last year was the time he delivered on that promise...and then some.
Sweeping aside Holger Rune in the first ATP Masters final between two players born this century brought the left-hander the title at Indian Wells.
A jaw-droppingly one-sided final followed a magnificent win over the seemingly invincible Carlos Alcaraz, as well as performances of almost total domination against top Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz.
Breaking new ground
A further Masters final on the red clay of Madrid would follow, making Draper the youngest British man in the Open Era to reach tour finals on all three surfaces.
He achieved it at 23 and four months - something that took Andy Murray until almost 28 to pull off.
Draper’s desert deed came at only the 15th Masters event he competed in, compared with Murray winning his 25th (and Federer his 21st).
A career-high ranking of fourth was also attained in a year that saw a 77% win percentage in all tournaments - higher than anyone outside of Alcaraz and Sinner (although admittedly Draper only played 39 matches in 2025, compared to an average of 71 for the rest of the year-end Top 10).
Hiatus & return
Sadly, the latest in a long list of injuries, and a subsequent six-month spell of inactivity, truncated his season early, and Indian Wells 2026 came just two matches into his return.
In this context, defending his title would have been a comeback of almost unthinkable proportions.
A quarter-final spot, removing five-time champion Novak Djokovic and in-form Francisco Cerundolo, before falling to a resurgent Daniil-Medvedev, is as deep as Draper could have been reasonably expected to get.
Expectations & pressure
The 24-year-old’s ability and achievements have naturally and rightly engendered high expectations.
There remains a fear amongst British tennis fans that Draper could succumb to what may be termed ‘Malisse-Gulbis syndrome’ - being incapable of fulfilling the expectations heaped upon his shoulders.
Whilst turning a deaf ear to the (sometimes overly negative) media white noise around him may be prudent, staying injury-free is of rather more pressing significance, if Draper is to have any realistic hope of progressing to the heights envisaged.
READ MORE: Indian Wells Open: Four iconic matches in Tennis Paradise, including Mirra Andreeva’s fairytale win
Miami momentum?
With no ranking points to defend, Miami offers a pressure-free opportunity to build momentum, and he needs to look no further than the former British #1 for inspiration.
Murray’s 2009 triumph at the Florida event arguably marked his arrival at the top echelons of the sport.
Emma Raducanu
2021 champion
The greats mentioned above were in their twenties when they first became grand slam champions - a holy grail strived for over several back-breaking years, with discernible signs of the elbow grease it took to get there.
However, Emma Raducanu’s earth-shattering US Open conquest in 2021 happened long before it was scheduled to - at the age of 18, as a qualifier, in only her second slam event.
Even if this title win appeared a ‘fluke’ on superficial viewing, it offered more depth upon further analysis: twenty unbroken sets won, several quality opponents eliminated, a winning mentality evinced.
Subsequent anticlimax
Sadly, from a British perspective, her subsequent career has fallen into a mood of sullen anticlimax.
Her grand slam displays have been particularly unpredictable and dispiriting, with a sole round of 16 appearance in twelve participations since 2021 (losing in the first two rounds in eight of those).
2026 defeats
Her 2026 story has so far vindicated my deflating but realistic pre-season prognosis: a main course of mediocre results, a side order of injuries and indiscipline, served with coach upheaval.
The Indian Wells obliteration she suffered at the hands of Amanda Anisimova (6-1, 6-1) occurred just a month after a similarly one-sided encounter with Sorana Cirstea (6-0, 6-2) at the Transylvanian Open final (her first since 2021).
This, in turn, followed a dismal second-round exit to world #91 Anastasia Potapova at the Australian Open and humiliation in Hobart against Taylah Preston (#148).
Coach upheaval
Indeed, recent times have assumed the feel of a Groundhog Day of defeats, as one disappointing tournament bleeds into another.
Perpetual movement in her coaching setup - nine have come and gone in the last five years - seems to have been a recipe for confusion, a surfeit of different ideas, no clear direction.
Whilst injury disruptions make it harder to build coach-player relationships, and though some partnerships were only intended as temporary arrangements, one wonders whether Raducanu can succeed consistently on her own merits, having been furnished with several well-qualified trainers.
Miami & beyond
Illness means the 23-year-old won’t be playing at Miami, the venue for her solitary Masters quarter-final last year. Still, she remains in a category of her own, sui generis.
Her ability, mentality and strategy will decide whether that glorious fortnight in 2021 serves as an inspired touchstone for the rest of her career or is to be an insufferable burden.
