WHAT HAPPENED: In a year that’s seen him claim his first tour-level title and rise to a career-high No. 25 in the ATP rankings, Jack Draper is through to his maiden Grand Slam semifinal, a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 winner over Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Wednesday at the 2024 US Open.
Draper, 22, becomes the first British man to reach the final four in Flushing Meadows since Andy Murray took the title in 2012.
It marked his first victory over the world No. 10 de Minaur in four career encounters.
“It’s amazing. To be out here in my first match on the biggest court in the world, honestly, it’s a dream come true for me,” said the in-form southpaw, who has yet to drop a set through five rounds. “I think I played a solid match. I feel the best fitness-wise I’ve been in a long, long time. I think that’s where Alex has sort of got me in the past. I also think maybe he was struggling a little bit today with something, which may have helped me a little bit. But credit to Alex—he’s an amazing fighter and an unbelievable player, and we’re going to have many more battles to come.”
De Minaur came into the match having won titles in Acapulco and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, but after playing his way into his first Wimbledon quarterfinal this summer, was forced to withdraw from his much-anticipated matchup with Novak Djokovic due to a hip injury. It was a setback that not only kept him from playing the Paris Olympics, but also the back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 events on hard courts in Montreal and Cincinnati.
His movement again appeared to be hampered on Day 10 in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he struggled to cover the baseline with his usual top-flight speed.
Five set points would come and go before Draper sealed the 39-minute opener, in which his opponent would amass an uncharacteristic 13 unforced errors. Despite calling for a trainer to tape up his right thigh, Draper would carry that momentum into the second set.
The 25-year-old de Minaur had never come back from two sets down in a best-of-five-sets format, and was unable to end that skid against Draper, falling to a winless 0-22 in those scenarios.
Draper, who has had his serve broken on just three occasions over the fortnight, registered eight aces to three double faults in the two-hour, seven-minute matchup.
The timing couldn’t be more spot-on for Draper, who in June supplanted countryman Cameron Norrie as the new British No. 1. His mentor Murray—he of three major singles titles, two Olympic golds, and 41 total weeks at No. 1—called it a career last month at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Draper is the first man to reach the US Open semifinals without losing a set since Daniil Medvedev in 2020.
WHAT IT MEANS: The winner of the quarterfinal matchup of world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 2021 US Open title-winner Medvedev will be next up for Draper.
“I’m a big sports fan, a big tennis fan, so I’ll definitely be watching the match tonight if it doesn’t go too late,” he said.
MATCH POINT: Draper becomes only the fourth Brit to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals here since Greg Rusedski (1997), Tim Henman (2004), and Andy Murray (2008, 2011-12).
