British tennis star Jack Draper is in the driving seat for a huge bonus payout despite his Madrid Open final defeat on Sunday. Draper, 23, missed out on the first clay court title of his career as he was beaten by Casper Ruud 7-5 3-6 6-4.
Ruud fought back from 5-3 down to take the opening set, prompting an emotional outburst from Draper. He recovered to level at the match, but at 2-2 in the decider, he was broken and then unable to strike back against the Norwegian. However, after an impressive showing in Spain, Draper has now broken into the world’s top five for the first time.
The 650 ranking points gained have also increased his lead over Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Masters 1000 Bonus Pool. A pot of £15.8million is available to 30 players, with the player who gains the most points in Masters 1000 events earning a £3.23m share if they play all nine tournaments.
After four events, Draper, who won his first Masters title at Indian Wells in March, leads the way on 1,760 points. World No.3 Alcaraz trails him on 1,410, having had to withdraw from the Madrid Open with injury.
Jakub Mensik’s win at the Miami Open has helped him into third place on 1230. Ruud is also now in contention, with the 1000 points he picked up in the Spanish capital taking him to 1210.
Novak Djokovic, however, already has a mountain to climb to catch Draper, joint 10th on the list with Holger Rune on just 680 points. The next Masters event is the Italian Open in May, which will serve as a crucial part of the build-up to the French Open later that month.
After the tournament in Rome, Draper and co will have to wait until the hard court season to pick up more points. The Canadian Open takes place in July, with the Cincinnati Masters and Shanghai Masters taking place the following month.
The chance to secure the huge payout will then come at the Paris Masters in October. Last year, Alcaraz took the cash prize despite not winning any of the nine tournaments on offer.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk