Jack Draper is relishing taking over the mantle from Andy Murray after reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
In the first tennis Major since Murray’s retirement after the Paris Olympics, Draper sailed past Tomas Machac in straight sets at the US Open on Tuesday night to improve on his previous career-best run to the last 16 at the same tournament last year.
In the process, Draper became the first British male into the last eight in New York since Murray last achieved the feat, back in 2016.
The British No1 said: “I’m incredibly proud of that achievement. Obviously, it’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world.
To follow in Andy’s footsteps and make the quarter-finals here since he did it, it’s a big achievement
“To follow in Andy’s footsteps and make the quarter-finals here since he did it, it’s a big achievement. But, you know, I’ve just got to keep on going, because I know that there’s still room for improvement and still room to hopefully go further in the tournament.”
Murray tipped his fellow Briton as a potential world No1 of the future at the start of the summer, and Draper has made no secret of the fact he has targets well above his current ranking of No25.
Draper has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows on his run and raised his game to another level against the Czech Machac, who had beaten the Briton in their last three encounters.
He conceded just six games to set up a quarter-final against Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the boyfriend of British No1 Katie Boulter who dubbed himself an honorary Brit at this year’s Wimbledon.
And Draper warned he would need to raise his game against the world No10.
De Minaur is playing in his first competitive singles since pulling out injured on the eve of a quarter-final against Novak Djokovic at SW19.
After landing just 49 per cent of his first serves in against Machac, Draper said: “I still have got a lot of work to do on my serve. I think my serve is a weapon.
“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 serving not amazingly well. It’s really positive to know that I’m holding serve a lot, and I still feel like there’s room for improvement.”
He’s coming off his best year so far, playing with a lot of confidence. He’s got some very big weapons: his serve, backhand and forehand
Prior to his hip injury, De Minaur had enjoyed some of the best form of his career, but readily admitted that he was wary of the threat of another in-form player.
“[Jack’s] coming off his best year so far,” said De Minaur. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s got some very big weapons: his serve, backhand and forehand at times. So, it’s always tough facing someone like him, especially a lefty.
“It’s the quarter-finals of a Slam, I’m going to go out there and give it my all and compete, and these matches are there to be won. Being passive is not going to get the job done. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and excited for the match.”
World No1 Jannik Sinner set up a quarter-final clash with Daniil Medvedev after last night seeing off home favourite Tommy Paul.
