JAck Draper didn’t have to look far for advice about the bone bruise that left him in a dark place. Less than a year ago, Toby Samuel was toiling away in the gym and fitness room at the LTA Tennis Center with the same problem.
A standout college player at the University of South Carolina, the 23-year-old had just started his professional career in 2024 when a nagging pain in his right hand sidelined him for an extended period of time. After falling to around No2,000 in the world rankings and losing to little opposition during his comeback, thoughts began to cross Samuel’s mind that the dream of his life had been cruelly dashed.
“I wondered if I would ever come back [on track],” he says: “You have a few doubts. I tried to play [the pain] because I felt like I couldn’t take more time, but I wasn’t doing well. I was pretty much all over the place, not feeling well physically or mentally. It was a very difficult time. I said to my coaches, ‘Am I not good enough? What happend?'”
Samuel’s speed and endurance have made him one of the fastest rising tennis players. A 16-match winning streak since the last week of February has included one Futures title and two Challenger titles and the pain in his arm is a thing of the past. Currently ranked No172, and aiming to climb at least six places after winning his No. 32 match at the Barletta Open on Monday, Samuel has secured his French Open qualification spot and is a prime candidate for a wild card to make his Wimbledon main draw.
In Samuel’s low state, Draper, who has passed a year, was one of the people who encouraged him. “He reached out and helped me when I was struggling,” says Samuel. “He was very nice, he encouraged me a lot and said, ‘Go ahead, you can do it.’
When Draper was involved in a similar accident midway through last year, which ended up keeping him off the court for six months, Samuel did his best to return the favor. “I tried to help as much as I could, to give him what I was doing for rehab and other things, and how much I was working for, but it’s a serious injury because there’s no set time or magic cure for it, so it’s difficult,” he says.
Ironically, the right excitement about Draper’s rise meant that Samuel was sometimes in the shadows as a child, despite being the best in Britain in his age group, and tennis was not a natural choice. Samuel’s father played professional rugby for Romsey in Hampshire and his mother represented Great Britain in gymnastics before taking up senior positions in the NHS. “My mum took me and my brother to gym lessons, but we didn’t fit in the class. We were gangs,” Samuel, who is now 6ft 3in, said with a laugh.
A talented Dorset breaststroker and midfielder, Samuel was offered a school contract in Bournemouth when he was about 11, but soon became disillusioned after becoming defensive and telling his parents he wanted to focus on tennis, after picking up a racket for four years at St Leonards & St Ives Tennis Club in Ringwood.
“Also, I support Southampton, so my dad was like, ‘Obviously you can’t play for them,'” he says, with another laugh. After moving to West Hants Club, Samuel benefited from regular training with Jack Pinington Jones, now world No138, who also attended Bournemouth Collegiate School, and the pair became close friends as well as young rivals.
Samuel says: “We were both going backwards and we had to play in a game when I was 15. “I was very nervous because I was a year older than him and all the kids at school were asking us who was better and who would win the game. Obviously I said I would win, he said he would, and now I think I lost 7-6 in the third set. It was horrible to go back the next day.”
Samuel reached the semi-finals of the boys’ doubles at Wimbledon in 2019 alongside another good friend, Arthur Fery, and reached a peak of No57 in the ITF junior rankings. However, the Covid pandemic denied him the opportunity to play boys’ singles at Wimbledon and the US Open the following year. A promising talent but by no means guaranteed success in such a fiercely competitive game, Samuel accepted a scholarship to the University of South Carolina, instead of becoming a professional immediately, like Draper and Pinnington Jones – although he eventually changed his mind after a short trip and went to Texas Christian University.
“My parents wanted me to get a degree [Samuel studied sports management] because you don’t know what’s going to happen. It wasn’t like I was going to move up the ranks like [Carlos] Alcaraz or [Jannik] A sinner. I’m so glad I went because I loved it. It was the best four years of my life,” he says.
As a reward for finishing tenth in college singles, Samuel earned six top spots in Challenger events as part of the ATP Accelerator Program, which is designed to accelerate the transition of top players. Armed with a well-rounded game and good movement — his college coach, Josh Goffi, likened him to “confidence on the court” — instead, Samuel began to notice the pain in his right arm getting worse shortly after graduating in 2024.
The specialist advised him to take a few months off and an attempt to return early in September meant Samuel was not given protected status – players must be sidelined for at least six months to be eligible – and lost all his points.
Britain’s ten men
- British No1: Cam Norrie, world No24
2: J Draper, 26
3: J Fearnley, 83
4: J Choinski, 123
5: J Pinnington Jones, 136
6: B Harris, 138
7: Ship, 163
8: T Samuel, 171
9: J Clarke, 179
10: D Evans, 201
Live, accurate rankings ahead of this week’s tournaments
He says: “I thought I was fine, then I played one match and couldn’t hold the racket. Further scans revealed a suspected hamstring injury, and when Samuel returned the following January, he had to have a shot at the Futures events. He failed to get past the second round of any tournament for nearly four months. and he was close to being able to directly enter the Challenger Moldova event in May. “I knew that if I didn’t do anything there, I would have to start all over again,” he says.
“It definitely made me stronger as a person because everything was going well. It was going well, I think.” To suddenly be like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll be able to be a pro tennis player,’ and to think, ‘Okay, what time do I start looking to do something else,’ because the pain that won’t stop is hard to deal with because it’s your whole life.”
Samuel defeated Radu Albot, a local hero and former 40-year-old player, en route to the semi-finals and hasn’t looked back since. He lost just five of his next 48 matches as his hand finally healed and finished the season with two Challenger titles and one Futures title – a 15-match winning streak that Samuel only repeated four months later.
“I feel like a completely different player,” he says. I was just happy to be able to go and do what I love and that showed in the results. My confidence kept growing every week, and by the end of last year, I felt like I couldn’t lose the game.
“My goal was to be in the top 300 in the world. Then it was to qualify for the grand-slam, and I think I just did that, so the next big thing is the top 100 and the top 100 points of the slams. To be in the top 100 is one of the best things as a tennis player.”
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