Indian Wells: Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie compete for the number one ranking in Britain

Draper has been the number one player in Britain since June 2024 when he took over, succeeding Nouri, who held the position since October 2021 when he won the Indian Wells title.

The 24-year-old has only played two ranking tournaments since the US Open last August, after returning from injury in February.

Before the injury, Draper was steadily working his way to the top of the game.

He reached the semi-finals at the 2024 US Open, won the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells six months later and reached No. 4 in the world rankings in June.

Friendly British competition with Nouri could help push him back into the top 10.

“Cam plays great tennis,” Draper said.

“He’s been really consistent. I think it’s great for British tennis that he’s back playing well – he was a former top-10 player who suffered a serious forearm injury two years ago.

“I’m really happy for him and his team, and if we can keep pushing each other to play well, that’s great.”

The rankings are calculated over a 12-month period, with players effectively defending the points they won in the same tournament the previous year.

Draper’s absence from the tour is the main reason he lost out on the No. 1 spot in Britain, but Norrie has had an excellent performance after falling out of the top 90 in April.

He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in July and beat world number one Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Masters in October.

“I was in a difficult situation,” Nouri said. “There were a lot of expectations, but I let that go and enjoyed the tennis a bit more, and then suddenly I finished in the top 30 at the end of last year.”