Britain’s Jack Draper roars into US Open semi-final with fifth straight win

Jack Draper became the first British man to reach the US Open semi-final for more than decade as he beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Andy Murray was the last Brit to do it, when he went on to win the title in 2012, but Draper will be a significant underdog to follow in his footsteps, guaranteed to face a grand slam champion in Friday’s semi-final.

The Brit is yet to drop a set in New York but will also have to recover from an apparent hamstring injury suffered in the opening set which required strapping.

However, quarter-final victory has guaranteed Draper will make a debut in the world’s top 20, only the ninth from these shores to do so in the men’s game.

“I played a solid match. I feel the best fitness-wise I’ve been in a long, long time and that’s where Alex has got me in the past,” said Draper, who had lost all three previous meetings with De Minaur.

“It’s amazing to be out here, my first match on the biggest court in the world. It’s a dream come true for me.”

Draper was the third-youngest British player to reach a grand slam quarter-final, behind only Tim Henman and Murray, the second of whom has spent this grand slam on holiday and on the golf course having retired last month.

His young protege looked similarly relaxed in the early stages of the biggest match of his career, earning at least 0-30 in every service game during a one-sided first set that threatened to be over within 30 minutes before De Minaur rallied to save four set points at 2-5.

Neither man was without discomfort though. De Minaur had looked in discomfort during practice on Tuesday, seemingly struggling with a hip problem he first suffered at Wimbledon and which ruled him out of singles at the Olympics and slipped several times behind the baseline with a grimace. At the other end, Draper had stretched out his left leg after sealing the opening set, and when the physio came jogging out during the second, it was a moment of intrigue waiting to see at whose chair he would stop.

To some surprise it was Draper, who needed no assessment before asking the trainer to strap up his right hamstring, the same area that forced him to retire when going well against Karen Khachanov in New York two years ago. The Brit has 14 career mid-match injury withdrawals to his name, a staggering number for one so young, and admitted before this match that he twice nearly quit tennis altogether due to his physical struggles.

Indeed his most recent retirement had come against De Minaur, albeit that was down to illness in Acapulco, and rather than quitting, his coach James Trotman recommended an aggressive approach that would ease the pressure on his hamstring.

“Try and keep these points short,” Trotman shouted from the coaching box. “I back your ball-striking, first half-chance you get.”

De Minaur though is a master of playing tennis that can be torturous for opponents; Draper’s countryman Dan Evans found that out in the third round, losing the last 12 games in a row after being made to work for two hours to split the first two sets.

The clock was at least on Draper’s side and when he finally served out the second set, it was with less than 100 minutes on the clock.

Draper’s power seemed to have broken De Minaur’s spirit though, perhaps along with the knowledge that the Australian’s body could not stomach the five sets now required, and the match ran away from him at a rate of knots.