Sickness 'worst feeling' but Slam success close – Draper
Jack Draper says being sick on court in his US Open semi-final defeat was “the worst feeling ever”, but Grand Slam success is “just a matter of time”.
Jack Draper says being sick on court in his US Open semi-final defeat was “the worst feeling ever”, but Grand Slam success is “just a matter of time”.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner may be in for a restless sleep tonight after advancing Friday to the US Open final.
But it won’t be the nerves of contending for his second Grand Slam title of the season that are likely to put him into a cold sweat. Wondering how his wrist will feel in the morning after a mid-match fall during his straight-sets win over Jack Draper will be his major concern.
[ATP APP]At 4-all in the second set Sinner extended his left arm to cushion his fall to the court. He looked in discomfort after the tumble and received treatment from the physio at the change of ends.
In his post-match press conference, Sinner said that he was not in too much distress as he continued the match, but would reserve judgment on whether he had escaped serious damage until he woke up Saturday morning.
“The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt okay in the beginning. Then after it went away by playing, which is good,” Sinner said.
“Let’s see how it is tomorrow when it’s cold. It’s gonna be a different feeling. Hopefully is nothing to concern about. I’m quite relaxed, because if it’s something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more.”
Sinner will face the winner of tonight’s semi-final between Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.
Asked to weigh in on his potential opponent, Sinner spoke first of Fritz. “Well, big serve. Very solid player from the back of the court. He can hit strong. He can hit with rotation. He can mix up the game very well. He has played a lot this year, so he has a lot of rhythm of the match.
“If it’s Frances, we just played the final in Cincinnati. He’s a very good mover, a good serve also. He can mix up the game with the slice. You know, he’s coming a little bit more to the net than Taylor.
“So it’s a bit slightly different two players, but yeah, I’m just looking forward for Sunday, and then we see how it goes.”
Regardless of whom he meets, Sinner knows that his opponent will have overwhelming support from New York fans.
“Whoever I play, being in America for sure the crowd will be a little bit more on their side.
“But it’s normal. It’s like when I play in Italy, so I’m gonna accept that. I have my team and my people who are close to me. In my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home from Italy, and it’s just take some support from them.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Britain’s Jack Draper vomits on court during a dramatic US Open semi-final defeat by world number one Jannik Sinner.
Aryna Sabalenka will have to deal with a boisterous New York crowd when she faces home hope Jessica Pegula in Saturday’s US Open final.
US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper leads Great Britain’s squad which is bidding to reach the Davis Cup finals.
Alfie Hewett wins his first Paralympics gold medal, partnering Gordon Reid to victory in the wheelchair tennis men’s doubles in Paris.
Lyudmyla Kichenok wins the US Open women’s doubles title with Jelena Ostapenko – just two days after postponing her wedding to continue competing.
Teenager Mika Stojsavljevic underlines her potential by becoming only the fifth British youngster to reach the US Open junior final.
The Italian city of Genoa endured a horrific tragedy in 2018, when the iconic Ponte Morandi partially collapsed following a torrential rainstorm. As vehicles fell into the Polcevera River, 43 people lost their lives.
While sports may seem insignificant in the face of such devastation, they can serve as an important outlet for those to combat grief. Such is the case with the ATP Challenger Tour event held in the heart of Genoa.
Three weeks after the 2018 tragedy, the Genoa Challenger provided a moment of inspiration as the city continued to mourn and rebuild. It was a memorable moment in the face of adversity. Home hero Lorenzo Sonego was crowned champion that week in front of a full crowd.
The Ponte Morandi bridge collapsed in August 2018. Credit: Andrea Leoni/AFP via Getty Images
Sonego, then 23, triumphed on the red clay to make his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings. The Turin native returned to Genoa the following year and successfully defended his title.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, the AON Open Challenger has featured seven champions who have climbed inside the Top 25, including Sonego.
In 2017, a Greek wild card with wavy blonde hair won the title without dropping a set. You guessed it, 11-time tour-level titlist Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was 19 years old and ranked No. 161 when he claimed the trophy. The following year, Tsitsipas won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.
“It was pretty special and something I’ve been dreaming about for a long time,” Tsitsipas said after winning in Genoa. “It was a relief for me at the end.”
The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion’s triumph in Genoa marks his lone title on the ATP Challenger Tour.
[ATP APP]Former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini captured a pair of titles in Genoa (2008, 2010). Last year, Fognini returned to the tournament for the first time in 13 years and treated the home crowd to a run to the final.
The city’s premier sporting event, which takes centre stage during the first week of September, won Challenger Of The Year honours in 2014. It is a sight to behold year after year. Akin to the Foro Italico in Rome, the venue features parasol pine trees surrounding the main stadium and ampitheatre-style seating.
But the ATP Challenger Tour 125 event has been much more than high-level players competing for rankings points and prize money. The Genoa tournament has provided a source of comfort in times of need, whether it was shortly after the Ponte Morandi bridge collapse or in 2016, when all proceeds went to victims of a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck central Italy.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]It was 6:41 p.m. on Wednesday evening when Jack Draper sat in the media garden at the US Open for an interview with Sky Sports. The sun was setting in the background above the tournament’s main row of practice courts. But the star that is Draper was rising and continues to soar higher than ever in New York.
Tim Henman, the former British No. 1 and a six-time major semi-finalist, sat next to the 22-year-old, who had just earned his first trip to the last four of a Grand Slam tournament. Henman handed Draper a bucket hat covered with the British flag. It was not the passing of the torch — that went from Henman to former World No. 1 Andy Murray — but it was a fitting moment between two of the best British tennis players in recent memory.
When Draper finished the interview, he stood up and was greeted by another legend, John McEnroe, who was excited to see his fellow lefty. The two posed for a picture. When Draper made it back to the players’ lounge, he snapped a photo with another all-time great, Andre Agassi. Draper was wearing sneakers made famous by the American.
One year ago, Draper broke through in New York and reached the fourth round at a major for the first time. At the time, he was World No. 123 after struggling with injury.
Now the Briton is through to the semi-finals of a Slam without losing a set and is up to No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Based on the love he is receiving from many in the tennis world and the efforts he has been producing on court, this seems to be just the beginning.
Yet to drop a set. ❄️@jackdraper0 downs de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 to advance into the #USOpen semi-finals!@usopen pic.twitter.com/02J7v9bMKG
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 4, 2024
# # #
Draper’s talent has been clear since he was a teen. The pinnacle of his junior career came in July 2018, when he showed both his ability and grit.
In a span of two weeks, he played a top junior from the time, Tristan Boyer, who is less than a year older than Draper.
“I was Top 10 in juniors going into Wimbledon. I go to [a tournament before that at] Roehampton, I see Draper first round and British guys are always tough on grass,” Boyer said. “But I was like, ‘Alright this guy hasn’t really been around, I’m Top 10’. I was pretty confident, and he tuned me up one and two at Roehampton. I didn’t have a chance.”
The American recalls Draper playing big and serving well, both trademarks of his game today. A week later, Boyer had another opportunity to face Draper at Wimbledon, where all the pressure was on the home favourite.
It was not an easy match, and Boyer remembers Draper standing during changeovers in the third set due to cramp, but the lefty found a way through 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-5.
“It was a tight match. He just played better than me in the third,” Boyer recalled. “I think that I was going [with] almost everything to his backhand and now his backhand is like a rock. It’s ridiculous. I was watching a little bit of him versus [Tomas] Machac [at the US Open] and he was so solid with his backhand. It’s really, really good.”
After beating Lorenzo Musetti in the next round in three sets, Draper played the most memorable match of his junior career. The lefty needed four hours and 23 minutes to oust Colombian Nicolas Mejia 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 19-17 in the semi-finals.
“I think that that match for me, it’s one of the most [memorable] matches of my life,” Mejia said. “First of all, it was the farthest stage I got into into a Slam in the juniors. It was also against a British player in Wimbledon. We were playing unbelievable tennis. It was a crazy, big level in that match.
“I think that’s maybe one of the craziest junior matches in a Grand Slam. It went so much into the distance. It was in the semi-finals, we just had a huge battle. And it’s a very cool thing that I was able to be part of.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/06/13/36/draper-mejia-wimbledon.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Jack Draper and Nicolas Mejia” />
Jack Draper and Nicolas Mejia after their Wimbledon classic. Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images.
Draper lost the final to Chun-Hsin Tseng, but the tournament was proof that the Briton is willing to scratch and claw, no matter how long it takes.
Mejia faced Draper several times and they even played doubles together as they embarked on their professional careers, spending time together everywhere from Mexico to Italy. Mejia said: “I think he’s an amazing person, and I’m really happy to have a nice friendship with him.”
What stands out the most is not necessarily his game, but his competitiveness and effort off the court.
“I think one of the biggest things that he has is the way he competes and he handles all the difficult moments in matches,” Mejia said. “He has a lot of passion. He does everything around tennis with a lot of passion, not only on court, but off court. That’s something that you know he does really well, and the results are reflecting given the professionalism that he has in his day-to day life.”
[ATP APP]# # #
As Draper climbed the PIF ATP Rankings, he showed plenty of flashes of his potential. The lefty earned his first ATP Tour main draw win at The Queen’s Club in 2021 against the man he will face in the US Open semi-finals, Jannik Sinner.
The game has been there, but over the past few years he has struggled with various injuries, including his shoulder last year. But despite those setbacks, the Briton’s determination helped him persevere through tough times in which it was difficult to envision him finding his way through.
“I’ve been working so hard for such a long time now. I’d say last year was a real turning point for me, when I had my injury setbacks and taking a lot of time off over the summer because of my shoulder injury,” Draper said. “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.
“This is not kind of like 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. 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.”
Before matches at the US Open Draper has been visiting his court earlier in the day to take a look before it is full of fans. This has included Arthur Ashe Stadium, onto which he will walk Friday afternoon for the biggest match of his life.
When players walk onto the court they immediately see a plaque with a quote from Billie Jean King, after whom the venue his named. “Pressure is a privilege”.
Draper is embracing that, and needs to continue doing so to capture the ultimate Grand Slam glory.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]