Jack Draper: I knew that my time would come
Jack Draper has become the first British man to reach the US Open singles semi-finals since Andy Murray in 2012, doing so without dropping a set.
Draper beat 10th seed Alex de Minaur, 6-3 7-5 6-2, to obtain his first win in four meetings over the top Australian.
It did appear that De Minaur was hampered by a previous hip injury that had prevented him from competing prior to this year’s US Open, as Draper moves onto achieve his best ever result at a Grand Slam.
Despite lots of firsts coming to fruition for Draper, the 22-year-old suggested that he knew this would come when speaking after the match, “This is not kind of like an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come.
“I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself. Even though I have won most – well, all of my matches – in three sets, I still feel like I have got so much left in my locker.”
36 – In the last 40 years (since 1985), only Novak Djokovic and Ivan Lendl have reached the Men’s Singles semi-finals at the US Open with fewer games dropped than Jack Draper in 2024 (36). Highway.#USOpen | @usopen @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/xIvylwVKD9
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 4, 2024
Although it was De Minaur with the previous injury coming into the match, there were also concerns for Draper after he took a medical timeout in the second set that led to his right leg being strapped.
But Draper has reassured fans that he ‘felt good’ as the match went on, “I felt something on set point in the first set. I was a little bit worried about it at the time but then I played two sets on it.”
He continued, “I think one of the things this year which has helped me to sort of be better is I’m mentally a lot better.I feel like I’m aware that I’m obviously playing so much tennis and competing so much and putting my body through so much that I’m going to pick up little niggles and injuries and I’ve got to just keep on going.
“At the end of the day it didn’t get any worse, and I felt good towards the end. I was happy it didn’t turn into a problem.”
Jack Draper will now move onto play World No.1 Jannik Sinner, as he looks to become the first British man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Murray in 2016.
Take a bow, @jackdraper0 🙌
The 1st British man to reach the @USOpen men’s semi-finals since @andy_murray in 2012 🙌 pic.twitter.com/URJuEtFfWg
— LTA (@the_LTA) September 4, 2024
Inside the baseline…
Jack Draper is spot on in what he has said. While for more casual tennis fans this run may have come out of nowhere for Draper, his talent has been known for a while and he has been tipped to do big things in the sport. However, to reach your first Grand Slam semi-final while only dropping 36 games is incredible, with the biggest test still to come against tournament favourite Jannik Sinner. There is also something quite symbolic about this run coming in the first major tournament since Andy Murray’s retirement.
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