Jack Draper says what he found really ‘strange’ during his match against Tomas Machac at the US Open

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Jack Draper reached his first major quarter-final at the US Open after breezing past Czechia’s Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in New York.

Having beaten Jack Draper earlier in the year at the Geneva Open, Olympic mixed doubles gold medalist Tomas Machac was looking to continue his career-best run at a major.

Into the fourth round for his second consecutive year in New York however, Draper was in total control throughout, dominating from the baseline with 35 winners struck.

Progression to the last eight makes Draper the first British man to advance to that stage at the US Open since Andy Murray in 2016, with the 22-year-old still yet to drop a set so far.

An enterprising clash awaits as Draper takes on Australian dynamo Alex de Minaur, who ousted countryman Jordan Thompson in four sets.

Having pulled out of Wimbledon and the Olympics through a hip injury, the tenth seeded Australian has looked back to his tantalising best in New York.

Jack Draper reflects on ‘strange’ US Open victory against Tomas Machac

With a previous defeat in straight sets to the Czech on the Swiss clay, as well as a handful of losses at Challenger level, Draper’s lack of success against Machac looked ominous for the Brit.

However, Draper took the initiative early on and simply never looked back, quickly leaving Machac in his wake.

After the crushing victory, the Brit still reflected on the unusual match, admitting that his opponent’s level was far off where he expected.

“I felt like today was a strange match in all honestly,” he told Sky Sports. “I have played him multiple times and it’s been a real battle and he has got the best of me.

“Watching his opening rounds here I felt like he was barely missing a ball and it was a great level, so I understood that I needed to be ready from the first ball.

“But it was a strange match, I felt like it went so quickly,” he added. “I felt like I needed to constantly get myself up as a lot of things were going my way. I felt like I could have improved a lot of things but I was happy with the way I did the basics today.”

Jack Draper’s US Open quarter-final sums up his magnificent 2024

With British tennis at the US Open having seen Emma Raducanu as its most recent winner, Draper was quick to send a message to Murray who also clinched the title here in New York.

Having been trounced in the fourth round last year to Andrey Rublev, Draper is enjoying a career-high ranking of 25, with the Brit set to move even higher come the end of his US Open run.

With Draper having made drastic changes since the French Open, he has since gone on to beat Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s and found his best tennis in New York.

With De Minaur next, Draper will need to have the courage to stay aggressive and hit that extra ball, with the Australian’s court coverage unrivalled on the tour.

A win would see the Brit face either Jannik Sinner or Daniil Medvedev who play their quarter-final on Wednesday.