At a time when he should have already been building the foundations of his promising tennis future, Jack Draper spent long periods during the formative years of his professional career watching from the sidelines. He simply could not stay fit. His countless injury struggles meant that while his talent has always been undeniable, for so long it was unclear if and when his body would allow it to flourish.
Finally, Draper has arrived at the highest levels of the sport. On Wednesday afternoon, he continued his supreme breakout run in New York by overcoming an ailing Alex de Minaur, the world No 10, maintaining his focus and his composure under pressure to reach his first grand slam semi-final at the US Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
âItâs amazing,â Draper said. âTo be out here for my first match on the biggest court in the world, itâs a dream come true for me.â
Five matches into his New York odyssey, Draper, the 25th seed, has still not dropped a set. He is the first British man to reach the semi-finals of the US Open since Andy Murray won his maiden grand slam title here in 2012. The 22-year-old will now break into the worldâs top 20 for the first time in his career, an achievement only attained by nine British men in the history of the ATP tour. In his first major semiâfinal, Draper will face either his good friend Jannik Sinner, the top seed, or the 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev.
âI played a solid match,â he said. âI feel the best fitness wise Iâve been in a long, long time. I think thatâs where Alex has got me in the past. I also think he was maybe struggling a little bit today with something which may have helped me. But credit to Alex, heâs an amazing fighter, an unbelievable player, and weâre going to have many more battles to come.â
Standing between Draper and his first major semi-final was one of the best defensive players in the world. Nobody moves and scraps like the much improved De Minaur, who has mastered the art of chasing down every last ball and eliciting errors from opponents by making his half of the court appear so narrow. The 25-year-oldâs ability to lengthen points and turn his matches into such physical battles has made this an extremely tough match-up for Draper in the past, who had lost all three of their meetings.
As both players stepped on to Arthur Ashe Stadium in pursuit of their first grand slam semi-final, it was difficult to say who would handle the pressure of the moment better. De Minaur had plenty to lose in his third consecutive grand slam quarterâfinal and fourth overall. After being the heavy underdog against topâfive players on the three previous occasions, this time he was the higher-ranked player.
De Minaur looked accordingly tense as both players struggled at the beginning, with Draper breaking serve in his opening return game with help from some unusual errors from the Australian before immediately offering the break back with two double faults.
But Draper had begun the match determined to dictate on his terms, pushing De Minaur behind the baseline with his heavy topspin forehand, with which he can sometimes be too tentative, and then searching for opportunities to dictate with it. After striking his forehand with authority throughout the set, Draper just about dragged himself over the line despite nerves and a low first-serve percentage.
Having secured the opening set, Draper further relaxed and dominated the baseline, breaking serve for a 2-1 lead. But it gradually became clear that De Minaur was in physical pain. Before the US Open, the Australian had not competed since Wimbledon, where he had injured his hip and withdrawn before his quarterâfinal against Novak Djokovic. While he had played the injury down after previous rounds and he has played at a good level in New York, De Minaur was clearly wincing after strenuous points from early in the second set until the end of the match.
Across the net, Draper had his own physical issues. After stretching his leg between points early in set two, he took a medical timeout at 2-1 and had his right thigh wrapped by the trainer. Although he occasionally seemed to be walking tentatively, Draperâs movement was not significantly affected. With his confidence high and De Minaur struggling butfighting on, this became a significant mental battle for Draper. He needed to maintain his focus, take his opportunities and not allow De Minaur to find a foothold in the match.
After generating a total of five break points to secure a double break in set two, the momentum very nearly shifted as Draper lost his serve at 4-3 and was soon serving to stay in the second set while trailing 4-5. He responded brilliantly, producing some of his best serving to hold, before rolling through two more games. After taking a twoâset lead, he refused to let up, playing with clear-minded, relentless aggression until the match was over and he stood just two matches away from winning a grand slam title.
