Jack Draper has said his spectacular breakthrough to the US Open semi-finals has given him confidence he is on course to challenge for the biggest titles and cement his place among the world’s best players – and potentially one day win a Grand Slam title.
“I think I’m nowhere near what I can do,” Draper said. “My tennis is improving, but there’s still so much improvement in terms of my serve, my forehand, so many areas of my game. I’ve started to be more aggressive, but I still have so much room to improve in so many areas and it’s extremely positive for me to know that I’m nowhere near my potential and still be a top 20 player in the world and make a Grand Slam semifinal.”
On Friday afternoon in New York, Draper was defeated by world number one Jannik Sinner in a dramatic match. After a tough opening set, Draper began to struggle physically in the humid conditions, vomiting several times on the court, while Sinner fell during the second set and injured his left wrist. Despite his struggles, Draper fought hard until the end.
The defeat ended the biggest week of Draper’s career to date after he made his first deep run at a Grand Slam, which he did without dropping a set until his loss, and will see him rise to world number 20. Draper’s side of the draw had been opened following Carlos Alcaraz’s second round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp and the 22-year-old made the most of the opportunity, stringing together five dominant performances en route to the semi-finals.
His loss was, in some ways, even more disappointing, as he was unable to produce his best performance in the biggest match of his career. Yet Draper spoke with typically impressive perspective and candor after the match, as he reflected on his journey to this point.
In addition to the humidity and physicality of the rallies, Draper noted that his physical struggles are related to the anxiety he sometimes feels before matches. While his desperation to win can be a huge advantage, he admitted that he sometimes wants things too much. He continues to work on approaching his matches with more composure.
“I’m not patient because I’m a competitor, I want to keep winning and doing all those things,” he said. “It’s hard to reflect that in tennis, but at the same time I’m still very proud of the things I’ve achieved since last year, when I was sitting on the bench with a bad shoulder injury and I saw these guys in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, winning Wimbledon, in the later stages of Grand Slams and getting to the top of the rankings. I thought, ‘Am I going to be able to do that?’”
It has taken Draper a lot of work to get to the point where he is physically able to compete week in, week out on the tour after so many injuries. He is adamant that he and his team are preparing him as best they can physically and his struggles on Friday are just part of the process that will make him stronger in the long run.
“I think I’ve proven myself a lot, especially in the last year, by staying on the court,” he said. “Of course I’m still working on a lot of things, but I stayed on the court, stayed fit, improved my tennis and I’m reaching the point where I hope to be one of the best players in the world soon. I think, honestly, it’s just a matter of time because I can’t ask more of myself. I’m doing everything right.”
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Draper can already look forward to the next challenges. Despite feeling somewhat “battered” after his defeat, Draper plans to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup in Manchester next week.
“Davis Cup is a huge deal for me,” he said. “I never really understood it until I played it for the first time. I know the tennis schedule is full and all that stuff. I remember when we went to Colombia, it was a bit like, ‘Should I go, shouldn’t I go?’ But I went and I saw how important it is for everyone to be there and represent your country. Even though the tennis schedule is brutal and honestly, I’ve barely had a day off since the beginning of the year. But I want to be there, I want to compete and I want to play for my country.”