Three years ago, British outsider Emma Raducanu powered to US Open glory in one of the most remarkable stories in tennis history and now her compatriot Jack Draper is threatening to serve up a stunning repeat.
A few weeks after Andy Murray called time on his stunning career, Britain has a new hero to cheer on after Draper booked his place in his first Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win against world No 10 Alex De Minaur.
The scoreline doesn’t do justice to Draper’s performance as he powered past De Minaur in a manner that confirmed he is a live contender to win the US Open.
And he has carved out one remarkable statistic comparable to Raducanu’s with his straight sets win against De Minaur.
Raducanu was the last player to win 14 straight sets in the US Open main draw as she won her title in 2021 and no player since that had been on such a flawless run.
Now Draper has moved one clear of Raducanu as he has claimed 15 straight sets at this year’s Flushing Meadows extravaganza, with the ease of his success taking him by surprise.
“It’s amazing. Honestly, to be out here my first match on the biggest court in the world it’s a dream come true for me,” Draper said. “It means the world.
“I think I played a solid match. I feel the best fitness-wise I’ve been in a long, long time and I think that’s where Alex has got me in the past.
“I also think he was maybe struggling a 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.”
Former British No 1 Tim Henman gave his views to Sky Sports Tennis, as he suggested Draper’s power-packed display was a sign that he is ready to challenge for major titles.
“I think he can be so proud of so many different aspects. He played great tennis,” said Henman.
“He obviously had his challenges physically. It’ll be interesting to hear how that leg is feeling.
“Also mentally – there were a lot of opportunities to get distracted out there. He came out. Stamped his authority on the first set and looked comfortable and then in the second set he had a lot of opportunities.
“But De Minaur’s never going to go away. He’s a great competitor and he hung in and suddenly [Draper] has to serve to stay in the second set at 4-5, he played a couple of great games to hold serve, to break serve and then to finish it off. Then at two sets to love he was in such a strong position
“It’s absolutely brilliant. Dealing with adversity in any professional sport is the most difficult bit and today there was plenty of adversity because he could have been distracted by what was going on in the second set.
“That was where I think Jack showed mental fortitude, showed maturity to find a way to come through it.”
Draper’s win ensures he will break into the top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time next week, but there is no reason why he can’t eye up even more than that.
They said Raducanu’s US Open win was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, but the dominant Draper is threatening to follow in her footsteps by lifting his first Grand Slam title on Sunday.
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