Jack Draper breezed through his US Open quarter-final against Alex de Minaur to reach the last four for the first time at a Grand Slam.
Still yet to drop a set and just weeks after British tears flowed on the Parisian clay, Jack Draper is flying his very own ‘Union Jack’ with utmost commitment in New York.
A major quarter-final debutant, Draper showed little nerves as he broke tenth seed Alex de Minaur in his opening service game.
You never would have suspected that Draper was 0-3 against De Minaur coming into this match, with his blistering and patient ball-striking guiding him to a rather straight forward win in the end.
As soon as De Minaur tried to clip the heels of the powerful 22-year-old, Draper simply raised his level at the key moments to snuff out any hope of an almighty comeback.
The tall lefty hit 11 aces and 40 winners as he thrashed his way into new territory. With echoes of Emma Raducanu’s faultless 2021 run, Draper is immediately renewing British hopes after Andy Murray’s recent departure.
Nick Kyrgios admits surprise at Alex de Minaur’s level in the US Open quarter-final
It’s certainly more important to laud Draper rather than bash De Minaur. However, with the Australian returning from a hip injury, that saw him painfully forced out of his first Wimbledon quarter-final, it’s difficult to tell exactly how fresh he was.
A supreme mover on court, the remnants of De Minaur’s injury shifted the narrative ahead of the tie, with Draper’s ambitions of a semi-final spot bolstered.
Nick Kyrgios too voiced his shock at the lop-sided nature of the result.
“Damn wasn’t expecting demon to go down in straights… sheesh. Props to Draper, big lefty looking solid.”
Kyrgios, undertaking a role as a pundit rather than a player at this years US Open, previously spoke of Draper’s potential to challenge the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, after his beating of the Spaniard at Queen’s this year.
With Kyrgios still the last male Australian to reach a major final since Lleyton Hewitt, an inspired US Open saw a number of breakout performances from the Aussies with Alexei Popyrin notably beating Novak Djokovic.
Jack Draper is making quick-work of renewing British tennis hopes
Murray’s miraculously extended Olympic doubles run with Dan Evans saw him ride high on borrowed time.
Having broken a 77-year wait for a British Wimbledon champion, Draper has taken just a month to grab the reins and rejuvenate the down-trodden British spectator.
With top seed Sinner in the next round, ambitions of a place in the final certainly look unlikely, but with Draper having nothing to lose and playing superbly – quite simply why not?
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