Rising Star with ‘Big Weapons’ Threatens Demon’s Career Milestone, Andy Murray’s Successor Emerges

Jack Draper is the exciting Englishman who stands in the path of Alex de Minaur producing the best grand slam performance of his career at the US Open.

Considered the heir to Andy Murray as Great Britain’s next great player, Draper has been in explosive form over the past week in New York and the A-plus talent is attracting the attention of A-list fans.

Fashion guru Anna Wintour, who used to attend the matches of Roger Federer and Serena Williams at grand slams, is now a fixture at Draper matches.

The only man yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows, the 22-year-old is tall and lean and he serves it mean.

A left-hander, he can slice it sharply to the advantage and deuce courts, with its natural curve arching away from right-handlers like de Minaur. Tomas Machac, the rival he decimated on Monday in New York, hit some returns from near the courtside fence given the swing.

But like former Aussie pro Wayne Arthurs, who had a left-handed serve that used to kick like a mule, the Brit can also cut the angles to the forehand side, with the ball ripping sideways like a vicious off-spinner on landing.

It is already a destructive delivery, yet Draper warned it can become even more dangerous.

“I think I still have got a lot of work to go on my serve as well. I think my serve is a weapon,” he said.

“Whenever I look at the stats, I think I see that my first serve when it goes in is a really high percentage, but I still feel like I’m not serving amazingly well. I’m not sure what my first-serve percentage was today, but I don’t think it would have been that high.”

An aggressive all-court player, there is much to like about the emerging star, who is the first Brit since Murray in 2016 to make the last eight in New York. He has a liking for beating Australians, having edged Thanasi Kokkinakis in a Davis Cup rubber last September.

Draper dismissed Botic van de Zandschulp, who had ousted Carlos Alcaraz, with disdain and after he dropped just six games against Machac, former English champion Tim Henman described it as the type of victory that would send a warning to his rivals.

“I think this is a little bit of a statement victory. This type of performance in one of our biggest tournaments has been brewing for Jack Draper,” he said on Sky Sports.

“He has dominated his opponent and it will send out a message to the rest of the tournament that he means business.”

Draper, who ousted Alcaraz at Queens a fortnight prior to the Spaniard’s successful Wimbledon defence, is rising rapidly and will break into the top 20 should he defeat de Minaur, who is aware of his younger rival’s talent.

“So, playing Jack, he is coming off his best year by far,” he said.

“He is playing with a lot of confidence. He’s for some very big weapons. His serve, backhand and forehand, at times. So it is always tough facing someone like him, especially a lefty.”

Now for the but.

For all of Draper’s indisputable talent, he is now in uncharted territory in a major, having never previously ventured beyond the second round at a grand slam. He is pitted against a man who has made the quarterfinals at the last three grand slams.

He has also never beaten the classy Australian from three attempts, but a caveat needs to be applied. Each match was very close.

Had Draper snared a second set tiebreaker in their first clash at Wimbledon two years ago, the Aussie would have been in significant peril.

When they met in Tokyo a year ago, the world No.10 only progressed by clinching the last two sets in tiebreakers. Earlier this year in Mexico, de Minaur moved through to the final in Acapulco after his injury-plagued rival broke down in the deciding set.

As good as Draper has been so far at Flushing Meadows, he is well aware he is going to have to lift again to emerge as King over de Minaur in Queens.

“I know that my work is going to be cut out, and I know I’m going to have to play really good tennis and bring some of my best to beat him,” he said.

De Minaur, for his part, is the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005 to reach the last eight in three successive grand slams.

That, he said, is an achievement to be proud of. But he wants more, declaring earlier in the tournament that making the quarterfinals of grand slams is only a stepping stone towards the major title he dearly wants.

It is a tribute to de Minaur’s mental toughness and also his optimistic nature that he is in this position.

He had significant doubts as to how competitive he would be in New York as he recovered from the hip injury that forced him to forfeit a Wimbledon quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic.

The hip was not quite right prior to the tournament, but when advised he could do no further damage to it, de Minaur decided to have a crack. And what a crack it has been.

His movement has gotten better with every match, even if there have been times where the quality of his tennis has not been as pristine as it was at Roland Garros or Wimbledon.

But he was able to defeat tough American Marcos Giron, who led their head-to-head, in the first round before overcoming flying Finn Otto Virtanen in the next. He had never beaten Dan Evans either, but closed out his first Ashes-style battle by winning the last 12 games.

Having fallen to the Australian No.1 in a tight four set encounter on Monday night in New York, compatriot Jordan Thompson said he has no doubt how much effort his mate will put into the Draper outing as he prepares to oust another Englishman.

He believes the flatter style de Minaur plays with is well-suited to the hard courts in Queens and that this could trouble his rival.

“He doesn’t really have any holes, and if he does hit … an average shot, he more than makes up for it with his speed and his defensive skills,” Thompson said.

“It’s like, if you hit a good shot, he’ll hit a better one back, especially if he’s on the move. So it’s just really tough playing him. He doesn’t play with a lot of spin either, so the ball shoots through.

“He’s got an opportunity in front of him and I’m sure he knows that, but he’ll die trying to win this one.”

The Australian, for his part, has vowed to be aggressive and said that he cannot allow his rival to dictate terms to him given his power.

“I have had some success in the past. I’m going to try and draw on that, on what I was able to do in those types of matches,” he said.

“And … it’s the quarterfinals of a slam. I’m going to go out there and give it my all and compete.

“These matches are there to be won. Being passive is not going to get the job done. So I’m looking forward to the opportunity and excited for the match.”