Jack Draper further announced himself as the new star of British tennis by reaching the US Open semi-finals.
In the first grand slam since Andy Murray ended his stellar career, Draper has stepped up into the limelight and is taking New York by storm.
His 6-3 7-5 6-2 win in the quarter-final against world number 10 Alex De Minaur saw him become the first British man to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows since Murray won it in 2012.
His run here has similar vibes to that of another British success story when Emma Raducanu shocked the world by winning in 2021.
It would not be considered as big a shock if Draper were to win two more matches and lift the title, but the manner of his victories to this point, where he has won 15 straight sets, are that of a man on a similar journey to Raducanu.
Read more:
- Andy Murray blasts 'amateurish' US Open tennis scheduling
- Rafael Nadal pulls out of US Open as tennis hero 'unable to give 100%'
He has taken advantage of Carlos Alcaraz’s early exit – the Spaniard was his slated opponent in the third round before crashing out – and swept all that have come before him aside.
He will certainly get his toughest test yet in the last four as he will meet either world number one Jannik Sinner or 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, who are playing overnight in what is being described by some as the de facto final.
But Draper is very much in the conversation after his breakthrough grand slam and on Friday will take his shot at making a first final.
“It’s amazing. On the biggest court in the world, it’s a dream come true for me,” the British number one said in his on-court interview.
“I think I played a solid match and I feel the best fitness-wise that I’ve felt in a long time.
“I think that’s where Alex has got me in the past. I also think he was struggling a little bit today with something and that helped me a little bit.
“But credit to Alex, he’s an unbelievable player and fighter, and we’re going to have many more battles to come.”
For De Minaur, whose girlfriend is British number one Katie Boulter, it is another quarter-final loss at a grand slam and the Australian appeared to be struggling with injury throughout.
There were reports of De Minaur cutting his practice session short before the match and he was certainly not at his best in the opening exchanges.
Read more:
- Andy Murray 'content' with retirement as he confirms Olympics plans
- Andy Murray backs mother Judy over Emma Raducanu Wimbledon pullout comment
Draper took full advantage, with two breaks of serve allowing him to take the opening set – although he missed five set points before eventually whipping a crosscourt forehand home.
The 22-year-old, whose early career had been stunted by injury problems, got another break early in the second set, but then raised fears when he had a medical timeout for treatment on his hamstring.
But he continued to dominate and had five break points for a 5-2 lead in the second set, only for De Minaur to find his renowned fighting spirit and level at 5-5.
Draper was not in the mood to let it slip, though, and immediately broke back before serving the set out.
De Minaur was under constant threat and Draper moved to finish the Australian off at 2-2, winning four successive games to reach the last four.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here