Jack Draper’s impressive defeat against a crestfallen Alex de Minaur sets up a thrilling US Open showdown against world number one Jannik Sinner.
A miraculous display of courage and shot-making guided Jack Draper into a fairytale maiden US Open semi-final, just two hours and seven minutes after his major quarter-final debut.
Whipping his huge lefty forehand through the corner, he manoeuvred the injury-hampered tenth seed around the court with deliberate and confident strokes.
Alex de Minaur was of course recovering from a hip injury that saw the Australian pull out in the last eight of Wimbledon and miss the Olympics altogether. Having ended his practice session early on Wednesday, it was clear the Australian’s movement was compromised in Wednesday’s defeat.
Nevertheless, Draper issued a further statement of intent to opponent and close friend Jannik Sinner, who dispatched Daniil Medvedev on Arthur Ashe in four lop-sided sets.
Alex de Minaur explains why Jack Draper could beat Jannik Sinner in US Open semi-final
Prior to Draper’s match-up against the Australian, he trailed 3-0 in their head-to-head – something you wouldn’t have suspected after his stylish and comfortable victory.
Nick Kyrgios shared his shock at De Minaur’s defeat, yet with that hip injury clearly still hindering his movement, it perhaps wasn’t all that surprising.
With upsets galore so far at the US Open with defending champion Novak Djokovic beaten convincingly by Alexei Popyrin, De Minaur was asked to predict how the semi-final might pan out.
“I think we have seen in this tournament that anything is possible. If that wasn’t the case then we would have had all the seeded players win their respective rounds and the tournament would be quite boring. No upsets at all,” he said in his press conference.
“But we have seen in the last couple of weeks that anything is possible. You never know what happens out here so I am sure he has got a good chance. He has big weapons where he can hurt anyone. So, yeah, why not?”
Why not is absolutely right – a fortnight ago, a semi-final lineup without Carlos Alcaraz and Djokovic felt impossible and yet here we are.
What is Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper’s record like ahead of their US Open semi-final?
Despite not having played since 2021, Draper leads their head-to-head 1-0, with their sole meeting coming on the green Queen’s carpet.
A victory decided by two tie-breaks, Draper has since formed a close friendship with Sinner, with the pair playing doubles together just a matter of weeks ago in Montreal.
The Brit received some medical treatment for his thigh in the second set, however Draper’s latest US Open injury update shows more or less the all-clear ahead of his semi-final.
With Sinner in bruising form and enjoying a ten-match win streak, he is also a US Open semi-final debutant, having been knocked out in the fourth round last year.
The heavy favorite, Draper will need to use all his courage to get past the world number one. Britain however, might still need a miracle.
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