In the first men’s semifinal at the 2024 US Open, No. 25 seed Jack Draper didn’t just square off against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, which in itself was already a daunting task. On a sticky, humid day inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, over the course of 3 hours and 3 minutes, the British lefty battled a sweat-ridden court, soaked-through shoes, a ball that didn’t want to stay in his pocket, a ball meant for the women’s tournament and—perhaps most concerningly—his own upset stomach. (Insert Pete-Sampras-in-his-1996-US-Open-quarterfinal reference here.)
Both players received dueling medical timeouts late in the second—Draper for the aforementioned illness, and Sinner for falling on his left wrist during a point. It was, in a word, dramatic.
Even with all these outside elements, the only man to not drop a set en route to the semis still fought, and fought, and kept fighting—even as chair umpire Marijana Veljovic compelled him to take a break so they could clean the court properly. He kept it close, but in the end there would be no valiant Sampras-style heroics. (Sampras, of course, would come through his grueling bout and lift the championship trophy at the end of the fortnight.) Sinner ultimately prevailed—or better, survived—thumping his forehand even after the medical timeout(s) to advance in three sets, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2. The world No. 1 just played the big points better in the first and second, as is often a world No. 1’s tendency when they are pushed up against a wall by an opponent, adversity, sweat on a court, etc. Despite seemingly struggling the most in the match during the third, Draper opted not to retire; instead, he asked for a Coke and finished out the contest, warmly embracing his good friend at the net when it concluded on the Italian’s 43rd winner.
“Obviously it's a big occasion for me,” the first-time Grand Slam semifinalist said in his post-match press conference about the physical issues he was experiencing. “I definitely felt—even though I generally feel pretty relaxed and stuff—more excited today, a few more nerves around. I'm definitely someone who is quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes I do feel a bit of nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough. [But] I didn't have any problems before the match. It just built up.”
For Draper, it was a case of going from bad to worse, especially as he lost the first two sets despite keeping even with Sinner for most of each.
“You just feel worse and worse, because you can't put anything in your body,” Draper said. “When you're playing long matches, you need to be able to drink and to eat things and give your body the supplies it needs to keep on going. When you're feeling sick, you can't put anything inside your body, because it just comes straight out. It's the worst feeling ever. You can't move around the court when that happens.”
But that’s to take nothing away from the world No. 1’s fight, he added.
“Jannik obviously has, even though he's so young, been in these situations many, many times,” Draper said. “Before [winning] the Australian Open, he kept on getting to the quarterfinals, the semifinals... I mean, the reason why he's No. 1 in the world and barely losing matches is because he's so consistent. His intensity, his ball speed. He's barely got any weaknesses, and he's just able to be there point-by-point and raise his level when he needs to.”
Despite the loss, despite the physical ailments, Draper leaned into the positives of his two weeks in New York. Every match that he did win, he won in straight sets. He was broken only once through the first four rounds. And this time last year he came into the tournament outside the world’s Top 100, having spent most of the season sidelined by injuries. He’ll leave Flushing Meadows right around the Top 20.
“I don't think, 'Oh, I need to do this and that's going to help,’” he said of how he might be able to advance one step further. “I think it's more just keeping on doing what I'm doing.
"[Players like Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz] or some of these young players, they've been on the tour for about three or four years now, constantly playing, constantly learning, constantly taking wins and losses and experiencing losing in the quarters or semis of a Grand Slam," noted Draper. "This is my first proper year, I'd say, because of all my injuries and all my setbacks. I'm a few years behind."
"I think I just need to keep on learning, keep on growing, keep on having situations like today. ‘How am I going to do it differently next time?’ and all these types of things. The biggest thing I think is, honestly, just a matter of time. It's [having] experiences, it's training consistently and over time you just progress and get stronger and better.”
And eventually become perfect? Asked to evaluate good pal Sinner’s level and identify one weakness in the now-2024 US Open finalist’s game, the world No. 25 could find no easy response.
“I don't know the answer to that question,” Draper said with a smile. “What's one weakness? He doesn't have many, mate. One? I don’t know. Maybe he's too nice.”
