Just weeks after Andy Murray was on the wrong end of the ‘Game, set, match’ call for the final time, Great Britain has a new kid on the block in Jack Draper.
The talented player has reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open and now faces Alex De Minaur for a place in the last four.
Draper came through in straight sets against Tomas Machac and will now be excited to play in a major quarter-final for the first time.
Remarkable, Draper has yet to lose a single set at Flushing Meadows and he might even be dreaming of glory already.
At 22, the future looks extremely bright and it will now be fascinating to see how far the youngster can go at this tournament.
Nick Kyrgios predicts who will win when Jack Draper faces Alex De Minaur
The match-up in-store provides a huge opportunity for both players. Neither player has reached the last four of a Grand Slam and with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic out, the opportunity is there.
Draper will go into this match full of confidence. However, so will De Minaur who has bounced back brilliantly after being forced to forfeit at the same stage of Wimbledon with a hip problem.
Nick Kyrgios has delivered his verdict on who he thinks will prevail during the quarter-final and it perhaps isn’t surprising he’s going with his compatriot.
He posted on X: “De Minaur gets over draper in my opinion. Matches up really well. Tiafoe has a great opportunity but Dimi has the 3-1 head-to-head…What do you guys think?”
Draper now has golden opportunity to reach US Open semi-final
This would be remarkable if the Great Britain number one could overcome De Minaur and reach the last four for the first time.
Nothing against the Australian star but Draper isn’t coming up against a Djokovic or an Alcaraz and this has to be viewed as a big chance.
Draper is playing some extremely good tennis at the moment and it certainly bodes well ahead of the biggest game of his career to date.
The Surrey-born player showed he can mix it with the best when he knocked Alcaraz out of Queen’s in the summer and he will need to be ready for De Minaur.
After Murray called time on his career, many were left asking the question of who could fill the void left by the three-time Grand Slam winner.
Now, there is no doubt who the next man up is…
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