Jack Draper makes history in New York by arriving in SF | ATP Tour

US Open

Draper makes history in New York by coming to SF

He is the sixth player born in 2000 or later to reach Grand Slam SF

September 04, 2024

In this decade, the US Open has become accustomed to welcoming very young players into the semi-finals. As many as four players born in 2000 or later have appeared in the ‘Final Four’ at Flushing Meadows in the last four editions. And on Wednesday, Jack Draper added his name to this privileged list of precocious talents.

The Briton made his first career Grand Slam semi-final appearance after beating No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and seven minutes, becoming only the fourth player born since 2000 onwards to make it that far at the tournament after Felix Auger-Aliassime (2021), Carlos Alcaraz (2022) and Ben Shelton (2023).

Players born in 2000 or later with the most Grand Slam SF:

In addition, Arthur Ashe Stadium witnessed the lowest-ranked player in the PIF ATP Rankings to advance to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam this season at World No. 25, equalling the same ranking held by Lorenzo Musetti at last year’s Wimbledon.

“It’s incredible. Honestly, it’s my first match on the biggest court in the world. It’s a dream come true for me. Thank you for the support. It means a lot.” These were Draper’s first words to the crowd at Arthur Ashe after her victory.

But Draper not only made history in New York for his precocity or for his ability to evolve during the fortnight [no ha cedido un set en el torneo]also for being the first Briton to go that far on the American hard court since Andy Murray won the crown in 2012.

In fact, he is the eighth player of his nationality to secure a ticket to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, following in the footsteps of his compatriots Murray, Tim Henman, Roger Taylor, Cameron Norrie, Kyle Edmund, Greg Rudeski and John Lloyd.

To achieve all these records and special marks, he had to beat an opponent he had never beaten, as reflected in the Lexus ATP Head2Head against De Minaur, who had the measure of him with a full house of victories in each of the encounters in the last three seasons (3-0).

“I think I played a solid match. I feel like I’m in the best physical form I’ve had in a long time. That’s where Alex has outplayed me in the past. I also think he’s had some problems with something, which may have helped me a little. He’s an incredible player and a fighter. We’ll have many more battles ahead of us,” he added about the match against De Minaur.

The Briton seemed to care little about the statistics, or that a Top 10 finish awaited him on the other side of the net. Draper has won his two most recent matches against players of this level: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (Queens, R16) and No. 10 De Miñaur (US Open, CF).

His numbers up to the semi-finals reinforce his right to continue dreaming. Draper has not dropped a set along the way against Zhizheng Zhang (first round), Facundo Díaz Acosta (second round), Botic van de Zandschulp (third round), Tomas Machac (fourth round) and De Miñaur (quarter-finals).

And on Wednesday he capped off a flawless performance, decorated with 11 aces and an 84% success rate on his first serve. He was aggressive when he was in trouble – with 40 winners and 25 net moves – and showed his teeth on return, converting 6 of the 20 break point opportunities he had.

In the semi-finals, he will try to give a Grand Slam champion a hard time. On Friday, he will have to face the winner of the last quarter-final between world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev.

Did you know that…?

Jack Draper has moved up to No. 20 in the PIF Live ATP Rankings after winning his US Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, giving him a career-high ranking on Monday. He will become the ninth Briton to break into the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings, following Murray (1), Henman (4), Greg Rusedski (4), Norrie (8), Taylor (11), Mark Cox (12), Edmund (14) and Buster C. Mottram (15).