WHAT HAPPENED: Coming into this Round 4 match, No. 25 seed Jack Draper had yet to drop a set at the 2024 US Open—indeed, he’d lost his serve just once. But his opponent, world No. 39 Tomas Machac, from the Czech Republic, had also won every set, conceding his serve just four times.
Both men had the same goal in mind: a spot in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
And so ensued a Labor Day battle between two of the tournament’s most in-form players. After three efficient sets, England’s Draper emerged the victor, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
The 23-year-old Machac, serving first, hammered two aces in his first service game, winning it at love. For his part, the 22-year-old Brit previewed his ability to track down the Czech’s extreme angles, as well as his powerful lefty groundstrokes.
The contest’s first fireworks came in the sixth game, when an up-close-and-personal exchange at the net ended with a body shot drilled into the Brit’s shoulder. Machac seemed more rattled by the unintentional (but point-winning) contact and dropped that service game, sliding to a 3-4 deficit.
And so, it was Machac who faced the battle’s first peril, serving at 3-5. He opened the game with a double fault, faced a break point, survived it, but succumbed to the second one. First set to Draper, 6-3.
Unforced errors were the difference-maker in the contest’s first frame. While Machac hit more winners (10 to Draper’s eight), he also made more errors (16 versus six)—and never saw a single break-point chance.
A confident Draper surged in the second set, breaking Machac yet again and grabbing an early lead, 2-0. After double-faulting in the third game, the Brit gave Machac his first chance to break. Machac couldn’t convert and Draper took the game along with a 3-0 lead.
The 6-foot-4 Draper uses his height to its best advantage, especially when serving.
“The one thing about me being tall that's different from a lot of other tall players is that I can scrap, I can move, I can defensively be really good when I need to be,” Draper said before the match. “I can serve volley more. I can come forward more, use my athleticism in a way of being attacking, not just defending...”
Those sentiments proved prescient as the Brit managed another service break—and had the set on his racquet serving at 5-1. With the match only about an hour old, he took the second frame, 6-1.
Would Machac, who is coming off a solid summer, stage a comeback? As in the second set, he lost his first service game. And while some of the rallies were long and spirited, the Czech player continued his error-plagued ways, quickly slipping into a 4-1 hole.
Meanwhile, the emboldened Brit seemed to sense that he mostly needed to stay in points to win them. He had a little wobble in the set’s sixth game, falling to 15-40. But then Draper struck a bold, forehand winner that seemed to paralyze Machac. Next, he rushed to the net and showed off soft hands to level the game to deuce. Finally, he hit yet another forehand winner to end the game and go up, 5-1.
Time was running out for the Czech. And he appeared to have lost belief in his ability to make a dent in the scoreline. He managed a hold without facing a match point against him. Again the Brit slid to 15-40, as Machac started striking winners. But it was too little too late and Draper won the third set 6-2, and the match.
Draper sounded humble in his on-court interview, characterizing his play as at “a good level” and, later, “I did what I needed to do to win.”
When asked about the fact that he still hasn’t dropped a service game, the Brit demurred again. “I feel like I have room for improvement on my serve,” he said, allowing that, “I saved a lot of break points.” (For the record, six on the match.)
WHAT IT MEANS: Who Draper plays in Wednesday’s quarterfinal contest will be determined by what happens this evening in Armstrong. In an all-Aussie tussle, No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur squares off against Jordan Thompson, No. 32.
MATCH POINT: The win delivered Draper his best US Open showing. And it also bettered his country’s results in New York. Draper is the first British man to play a quarterfinal match here since Sir Andy Murray in 2016.
“Andy’s a legend,” Draper said about his newly retired compatriot. “If I have half the career he had, I’ll be a happy man.”
