Jack Draper into US Open semi-finals as Brit blows Alex De Minaur away | Tennis | Sport
Jack Draper is two wins away from emulating Emma Raducanu at the US Open after another stunning performance took him to his first Grand Slam final.
The British No.1 saw off world No.10 Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 to reach the last four here without dropping a set, despite having never even got to a Slam quarter-final before this.
The Aussie was struggling with his hip injury but Draper also needed treatment on a thigh injury before winning this survival of the fittest Ashes contest in style.
Serving for the match, he hit an ace, two forehand winners and a backhand winner for the biggest win of his life. He also fired down 11 aces.
Katie Boulter’s boyfriend De Minaur battled – he saved 14 out of 20 break points – but he could not stay with the youth, pace and power of Draper who is now on his road to sporting superstardom.
The big left-hander looked at home in his first appearance in the Arthur Ashe Stadium – the biggest court in the world – and has now won 15 consecutive sets in New York.
British teenage qualifier Raducanu won the title here in 2021 in the biggest shock in Major history without dropping a set. She never faced a top 10 player as the highest ranked player she beat was world No.12 Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals.
Draper beat four unseeded players in the first four rounds with Chinese No.1 Zhang Zhehan pulling out injured after only 65 minutes with a knee problem.
He has now seen off the injured world No.10 but will now face the winner of the blockbuster quarter-final between Grand Slam champions Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
The Surrey-based star, 22, has already made his own history. In the first Grand Slam since Andy Murray retired, he is the first British man to reach the semi finals here since the Scot on his way to the title in 2012.
De Minaur had pulled out on the eve of his Wimbledon quarter-final with Novak Djokovic after tearing a hip cartilage during his fourth round win.
He claimed he was only “80 to 85 per cent fit” before beating Dan Evans in the third round. And Tim Henman told Sky Sports that the Aussie had been struggling to serve during his pre-match warm-up.
The world No.10 did not look his usual self as he lost the first six points as Draper won his opening service game to love and then immediately broke the Aussie. De Minaur broke back in the third game – only the second time the No.25 seed has dropped his serve this tournament.
The British No.1 raced to a 2-5 lead and De Minaur saved four set points on his own serve. In the next game, Draper took his sixth set point when the Aussie was left wrong-footed by a forehand crosscourt winner.
But it was at the end of the first set that the British No.1 started to feel his right thigh. At the start of the rollercoaster second set, Draper broke again to lead 2-1 but then had a medical timeout to have his leg strapped.
It was De Minaur who looked in more pain as he repeatedly felt his left hamstring. Yet the battling Aussie saved five break points in the seventh game to avoid going 5-2 down.
The No.10 seed then broke Draper and won three consecutive games to force the British No.1 to serve to stay in the set at 4-5. He held to love when the Aussie made four unforced errors – and then broke back and took his third set point with a serve and drive backhand volley.
De Minaur had made his last stand and the third set flew by serving for the match at 5-2, he fired down an ace and two big forehands before taking his first match point with a backhand crosscourt winner.
