Alastair Gray out to rise at Wimbledon as quickly as his cryptocurrency stock has fallen with 24-year-old eagerly anticipating his Grand Slam debut, while Jack Draper claims he can ‘100 per cent’ make a Raducanu-esque breakthrough
- Alastair Gray is excited as he gets ready for his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon
- Gray’s cryptocurrency portfolio has crashed but he is progressing in his career
- The likeable 24-year-old prepares to take on Tseng Chun-hsin in his debut
- Jack Draper backed himself to make a similar breakthrough to Emma Raducanu
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Alastair Gray’s cryptocurrency portfolio may have crashed along with the rest of the world’s, but the Brit is banking on his own stock rising at Wimbledon.
Of the 17 Britons in the singles draws this week, Gray is among the most obscure.
The likeable 24-year-old’s story is little-known to tennis fans, who will hope to get to know him better this week.
Alastair Gray’s cryptocurrency portfolio has crashed but he is ready to rise at Wimbledon
Gray spared 30 minutes on Sunday to tell his tale. From how he’s spent the last four years studying at Texas Christian University — the same US college attended by British No 1 Cameron Norrie — to his hobbies which include kayaking, jetty-jumping and crypto.
His Wimbledon opener against Tseng Chun-hsin, the Taiwanese world No 93, will mark his Grand Slam debut and Gray said on Sunday: ‘I’m trying to take it all in. It’s Wimbledon — it’s what you play for.’
Gray practised with Andy Murray prior to Wimbledon in 2016, with the Scot going on to win the tournament that year. And the world No 283 had another hit with Murray at Aorangi Park on Saturday.
Gray is eagerly anticipating his Grand Slam debut as he prepares to take on Tseng Chun-hsin
Gray is grateful for the £50,000 prize money he will receive for making his Wimbledon bow and said: ‘With that (crypto) doing so terribly, it’s nice to have this security! I won a round in the men’s doubles last year and that was amazing. To do it in singles would be 10 times better.’
Another Brit worth watching is 20-year-old Jack Draper, ranked 108th in the world. This month he’s beaten world No 14 Taylor Fritz and world No 15 Diego Schwartzman on grass, and he believes he can beat Belgian wildcard Zizou Bergs in his opener.
Asked if he can make an Emma Raducanu-esque breakthrough, Draper said: ‘Yes, 100 per cent. It gave a lot of British tennis players massive belief in themselves that they could do something similar.’
In the women’s draw, 20-year-old Brit Sonay Kartal faces Danka Kovinic, the world No 90 who beat Raducanu at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Jack Draper believes he is capable of making a breakthrough similar to that of Emma Raducanu
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