Trophy ceremony: The Power Jack Draper wins UTS London
Wild card Jack “The Power” Draper is the 2023 UTS Grand Final champion, beating Holger “The Viking” Rune 12-14, 15-12, 13-10, 19-7 to win the title. “It’s been amazing,” said Draper after his triumph. “I’m so happy I’ve been able to play the way I can – and hopefully bring that into next year. We both brought the best out of each other there. It’s not easy with this format – it’s very difficult to stay consistent and play each point as it comes.”
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 (dramatic music)
00:06 (dramatic music)
00:09 (dramatic music)
00:29 (dramatic music)
00:34 (dramatic music)
00:37 - Now it's time to award this wonderful trophy
00:41 to the UTS champion 2023.
00:45 Love and shout and scream for the champion,
00:50 Jack Draper, aka The Power!
00:55 (dramatic music)
01:04 What a weekend he has had.
01:06 (dramatic music)
01:09 And how about us sending him on a lap of honor?
01:12 Let's get our mobile phones out,
01:14 let's switch the lights on everybody.
01:17 Let's send Jack on a lap of honor.
01:21 Get your phones out, let's see the lights.
01:24 Jack.
01:25 Jack, follow me on a lap of honor.
01:30 Let everybody see this Zeus trophy.
01:33 Here is your UTS champion 2023.
01:38 Give it up for The Power, make some noise London.
01:42 (dramatic music)
01:45 Beautiful scenes here at Xcel Arena.
01:52 (dramatic music)
01:54 You've been an amazing audience.
02:01 (dramatic music)
02:04 And I think this man deserves a shout out one more time.
02:15 He is the UTS 2023 champion.
02:19 He is Jack Draper, he is The Power!
02:22 (dramatic music)
02:30 (upbeat music)
02:33 Well Jack Draper can join us now.
02:46 Trophy looks heavy Jack.
02:48 - Look, massive congratulations Jack.
02:52 You came here to UTS on your debut
02:55 and you beat everybody.
02:56 You beat the world number eight twice.
02:58 You beat the world number 11
03:00 and you basically destroyed everyone.
03:02 Congratulations, how are you feeling?
03:05 - Yeah, I feel amazing.
03:06 These guys are all incredible players in their own right.
03:09 She's probably much more in the game than I have just yet.
03:12 So I wanna keep on improving.
03:14 Obviously this is nice to show my level here
03:17 but I wanna keep on working hard
03:19 and showing that in the years to come on the tour
03:22 and in the Grand Slams.
03:24 So I'm really happy the way I played this week
03:26 and yeah, the crowd support playing in London
03:29 has been amazing.
03:30 - Absolutely.
03:31 - James, you've played your part too.
03:34 What have you learned about Jack Draper the last three days?
03:37 - Oh, a lot.
03:39 I was incredibly impressed
03:41 with just the way he kept digging deep.
03:43 It seemed like he kept finding something every time
03:45 when I thought there was nothing left in the tank.
03:48 The boys played an amazing final.
03:50 Jack's mentality, his aggression was really impressive
03:54 and something we've been working on.
03:55 So it was lovely to see.
03:57 - Absolutely.
03:57 And something Jack,
03:58 your biggest weapon in your game is your serve
04:00 and that was removed from you over these three days at UTS.
04:04 So to come here and to still win
04:06 and beat the level of players that you did
04:08 without your biggest weapon is a massive achievement.
04:11 What do you think of that?
04:13 - Yeah, I think it shows where the improvements
04:15 in the rest of my game are coming.
04:17 I feel so secure off both ground stroke wings.
04:20 My movement feels great and yeah, just keep on improving,
04:24 keep working on my game and I hope that I can keep rising
04:27 up the rankings and do a good job.
04:29 - Have you seen him play better than this?
04:32 - It's something we talk about a lot.
04:33 I mean, his level in practice has been improving
04:36 all the time and everything's getting tidier.
04:38 He's more secure of what he's trying to do,
04:39 what his vision is as a player.
04:41 And I think probably over these, what was it, five matches,
04:45 it's probably the most consistent he's been able
04:47 to put that on the court.
04:47 So yeah, really, really pleasing.
04:49 - Now you came into this, Jack,
04:51 and you said in our first interview
04:53 that UTS is carnage.
04:55 So British of you, I love it.
04:58 So what do you make of the format
04:59 now that you've settled into it?
05:01 - Obviously I love it 'cause I won, but no,
05:05 in all seriousness, I think it brings something amazing
05:07 to tennis.
05:08 I think it's great to watch.
05:10 It's the first time I've ever actually been glued
05:13 to the TV watching tennis.
05:14 I think sometimes in the grand slams and stuff,
05:16 it can get a bit long, whereas this format,
05:18 even though it's tough for the players,
05:20 it's amazing to watch and it's really fun as well
05:22 'cause you've got all these characters
05:24 and it kind of brings out the best in them
05:25 because you're having to interview them
05:27 after they lose a really tight quarter.
05:30 I mean, shout out to you guys.
05:31 You've done an amazing job interviewing
05:33 some of the people this week on the court.
05:35 - Thanks for being nice to us.
05:36 - Yeah, thanks, Jack.
05:38 - Most of the time.
05:39 No, no, but seriously, I think Patrick and the team
05:42 have done an amazing job of creating
05:43 this kind of environment.
05:45 They deserve a big round of applause
05:47 for holding this event.
05:48 (audience applauding)
05:49 - Hear, hear.
05:50 - And you're not taking the trophy to the airport.
05:52 Jack, because it's very heavy, but you can take it home.
05:54 Well done, congratulations.
05:56 You are the 2023 UTS champion.
05:59 And James, you've been a star as well.
06:00 Thank you so much.
06:01 - Yeah, well done guys, thank you.
06:03 (audience applauding)
06:06 (upbeat music)
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