**Jack Draper and Louis Rees-Zammit Share Uncomfortable Exchange as Cameras Roll at Queen’s Club**
While the Queen’s Club Championships are usually about powerful serves and athletic volleys, it was an off-court meeting between two young British sports stars that caught the attention of many this week. Cameras captured the moment when promising British tennis star Jack Draper and former Wales rugby international Louis Rees-Zammit met for the first time, producing a rather awkward – yet curiously endearing – encounter.
The meeting took place at the sidelines of a match featuring current world tennis number two Carlos Alcaraz. Rees-Zammit, enjoying a break from his transition from rugby to American football, had come to Queen’s not as a competitor, but as a sports fan. The brief exchange between him and Draper quickly drew attention after being caught by cameras, revealing a slightly clumsy—though good-natured—introduction between two athletes from very different disciplines.
Draper, 22, is currently riding a wave of success as Britain’s top-ranked male tennis player and was just a day away from securing his place in the tournament’s quarter-finals. Rees-Zammit, now 23, recently made headlines for his daring move to the United States, where he has been training with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
Upon meeting, Draper wasted no time lobbing a few ice-breaker questions at the Welshman. “Are you still doing the NFL stuff? Are you just back for the summer?” Draper enquired. Rees-Zammit responded, summarising his recent schedule, “Yeah, we did like a ten-week training camp. Back for four weeks and then straight into it.”
The conversation quickly revealed how little the pair knew about each other’s worlds. When Draper asked if Rees-Zammit enjoyed tennis, the response was enthusiastic but perhaps not what Draper expected. “Yeah I f****** love it man,” came the candid reply, prompting a few laughs. Attention next turned to whether the rugby star played the sport, to which he answered with a twist: “I play table tennis.”
As the exchange progressed, the two athletes found unexpected common ground in discussing the complexities of their sports. While Draper quizzed Rees-Zammit about his NFL position and living arrangements – “Where do you live?” – Rees-Zammit revealed he now splits his time between Cardiff and Jacksonville, Florida, highlighting the culture shock of life across the Atlantic.
They also briefly discussed Carlos Alcaraz, with Rees-Zammit humbly telling Draper that, while Alcaraz is “pretty decent”, “he’s no you, though,” offering a light, friendly compliment. At one point, Draper expressed interest in the NFL, admitting, “I need to get into it a little bit.” Rees-Zammit noted how the sport still has relatively low visibility in the UK, “Yeah, it’s tough because we don’t ever hear of it over here, do we? Like, properly. Not until they come and play the games here.”
The conversation turned to some of the more daunting aspects of Rees-Zammit’s new sport, specifically facing down enormous NFL defenders. Draper couldn’t help but query the experience, asking, “What do you think when you’ve got one of those f****** guys coming towards you at like 100 mph?” The NFL rookie offered a blunt insight: “I just don’t think.”
Demonstrating an easy camaraderie, Draper asked Rees-Zammit to message him on Instagram as they posed together for a picture, marking the close of their encounter. “It’s nice to properly meet you,” Draper said as they parted ways.
While this meeting might not have featured the effortless patter of old friends, it provided a glimpse into the mutual respect and curiosity shared by elite athletes, regardless of their chosen arenas. The exchange, though initially awkward, ultimately offered fans a refreshing look at the human side of sporting stardom – and perhaps the beginnings of a new cross-sport friendship.