(New York) British Jack Draper, 25e world number one, qualified for the US Open on Wednesday for his first Grand Slam semi-final by beating Australian Alex De Minaur (10e) 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
Aged 22, he will face world No. 1 Italian Jannik Sinner or Russian Daniil Medvedev (5) on Friday for a place in the final.e), winner of the tournament in 2021. They face each other on Wednesday at the end of the program on the Arthur-Ashe court.
Draper is the fourth Briton to reach the semi-finals of the men’s draw in New York in the Open era (1968) after Greg Rusedski (1997), Tim Henman (2004) and Andy Murray (2008, 2011, 2012).
Last year at Flushing Meadows, he reached the round of 16, which was his best result in a Grand Slam to date. Before that quarter-final, he had not lost a single set and had only conceded his serve once.
De Minaur took his serve twice, but without managing to take a single set.
PHOTO KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alex De Minaur twice took Jack Draper’s serve, but failed to take a single set.
For the Australian, this defeat is the fourth in a Grand Slam quarter-final, after the 2020 US Open as well as Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year. He has never reached the last four of a Major.
On Wednesday, Draper led the way in the first set by immediately breaking his opponent’s serve. After an exchange of serve, the Briton led 3-1 and confirmed at 4-1 on a white service game.
He then missed four set points on the opposing serve at 5-2, but closed on his next service game. In the second set, the Briton had a heavy bandage put on his right thigh.
He then broke to lead 3-1, but after saving six double break points, De Minaur came back to 4-4. At 5-5, Draper reeled off two games in a row to take the set.
In the third set, the Briton broke to lead 3-2, then saved two points before breaking away 4-2. He followed that up with a double break and served for the match.