Fearless Jack Draper is living his “dream” having convinced himself that “my time would come”.
I think it helps the fact that I’ve been in a lot of kind of low points already in my career where I’ve had injuries, setbacks. I’ve had times when I have maybe thought to stop. I am cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough? All this sort of stuff Jack Draper
The 22-year-old Brit reached his first major semi-final when he overcame tenth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 on his Arthur Ashe Stadium debut at the US Open in New York.
He will now take on world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in his last eight showdown, believing he can emulate compatriots Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu and make the decider.
And perhaps take confidence that both Murray, in 2012, and Raducanu, in 2021, went on to secure their titles.
The left-hander tipped by Murray to reach the top said: “Honestly, to be out here in my first match on the biggest court in the world is a dream come true.”
The 25th seed has every reason to be upbeat about his chances given he has, like Raducanu in her fairytale run to the women’s trophy, not given up a set.
And he is in the form of his life.
What adds to the positives for him is that he has experienced what it is like to consider giving up the game with injuries and self-doubts blighting his path to the top.
Although he had his previous best Slam result at Flushing Meadows in 2023, when he made the fourth round, physical setbacks meant he was outside the world top 100 this time last year.
Even as he overcame De Minaur, he had an injury scare and had to overcome the distraction of his Australian opponent who appeared to struggle with a hip problem which first surfaced at Wimbledon in July.
Draper said: “This is not like an overnight thing for me. I have believed for a long time that I have 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.
“I don’t feel overawed by the situations I’ve been in. It’s not getting to me in any sort of way. In my quarter-final, honestly, there weren’t any nerves.
“I think it helps the fact that I’ve been in a lot of kind of low points already in my career where I’ve had injuries, setbacks. I’ve had times when I have maybe thought to stop. I am cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough? All this sort of stuff.”
Draper added to the Daily Express: “Those are hard moments. This is kind of not a hard moment compared to that. This is a privilege, and this is an honour to be in this position. This is why I work so hard, so I’ve got to just keep it going in my stride. I’m not afraid of being in these positions. I want to keep on doing this. This is why I play.”
There was an air of unfinished business with Sinner next up as he maintained an air of calm rather than excited celebration on securing victory.
And it seems his mid-match niggle – necessitating having his right though strapped – won’t be a problem against the Italian.
He said: “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. I was happy it didn’t turn into a problem.”
Alex de Minaur leaves the court waving to the crowd
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
And De Minaur talked up Draper’s chances against Sinner, bearing in mind shock exits such as last year’s champion Novak Djokovic and 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz. He said: “We’ve seen in this tournament that anything is possible. He has got a chance. He has got big weapons that can hurt anyone.”
There had been question marks over De Minaur’s fitness when he truncated a pre-match practice session after just a quarter-of-an-hour. And Draper cruised to the first set and went a break ahead in the second with his 25-year-old opponent seemingly unable to fire on all cylinders.
But Draper missed five break points for a 5-2 lead and De Minaur sparked into life by securing three games on the bounce with the Brit appearing to physically struggle, perhaps with the thigh problem.
But Draper got his big banana-like, swinging left-hand serve up and running to seize back the momentum and secure a two-sets advantage. Draper brought his other major weapon – his heavy forehand – to the fore as broke De Minaur near the start of the third.
De Minaur rallied in the sixth game when he held two break points, but Draper saved them. It seemed to deflate the Australian and the set was over in just over half-an-hour. And with it, of course, the match.
It left Draper aiming to make it third time lucky for Britain in major semi-finals, with Cameron Norrie and Kyle Edmund failing, respectively, to make their final at Wimbledon (2022) and the Australian Open (2018).
