Jack Draper admitted he had to remain patient after reaching his maiden Major semifinal. The 22-year-old made it to the last four of the ongoing US Open after beating Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 on Wednesday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
With it, the Brit became the first man since 2020 to reach the final four at the US Open without dropping a set. The youngster revealed he worked really hard to get the desired results and it hasn’t been an overnight thing for him.
Draper also said he thought of quitting the sport when things were not going for him in the right direction.
“This is not an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come,” Draper said in his post-match press conference. “I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself.
“I’ve had times when I’ve maybe thought to stop or, ‘Am I cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough?’ And all these sorts of stuff.
“I kept on believing in myself, kept on working. Those are hard moments. This is not a hard moment compared to that. This is a privilege, and this is an honour to be in this position. This is why I work so hard, so I’ve got to just keep it going in my stride. I’m not afraid of being in these positions.”
Draper admitted his shoulder injury was the turning point when he noted that he wasn’t putting as much effort as it is required to succeed at the top level.
“I’ve been working so hard for such a long time now. I’d say last year was a real turning point for me, kind of when I had my injury setbacks and taking a lot of time off over the summer because of my shoulder injury,” said Draper, No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
“I had to sort of watch all these young, amazing players winning amazing tournaments. I’m playing on the biggest stage in the world and I felt like I just wasn’t doing enough to get to that point myself.”
Draper will take on World No.1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinal on Saturday.
