Draper capitalises on De Minaur’s injury
Draper took full advantage of De Minaur’s limited movement in what was his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final.
The Brit kept his unforced errors low and moved De Minaur around the court expertly, having the upper hand in the pair’s longer exchanges. He also came out on top in the short points too, courtesy of an improved serving day.
Draper sent down 11 aces and won 84 percent of points behind his first serve, well ahead of his opponent’s 67 percent win rate. As he has all tournament, the Brit continued to strike the ball excellently, plundering 40 winners over the course of the two-hour, seven-minute match.
The win is Draper’s first over De Minaur in four attempts, and sees him through to a maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
De Minaur staying positive, but surprised
Speaking to the media after his loss, De Minaur opted to remain positive about his run in New York.
“I'd rather try and think about what I was doing six, seven weeks ago, and where I am now,” he said.
“[I’d like to] try to focus on that instead of dwelling on what just happened and me potentially having one of the bigger opportunities of my career and it just slipping away from my hands.
“I'm going to stick with the positives that I'm proud of myself.”
De Minaur did reveal that the return of his hip injury, which occurred on match point against Arthur Fils at Wimbledon in July, took him by surprise.
“I was expecting to feel better,” the Australian confessed. “I was trending in the right direction. And today was a little bit the opposite of that.”
Draper still an underdog at US Open
Victory sees Draper continue to break new ground in his career this year.
The 22-year-old now has a 17-5 win-loss record dating back to May. In that time, he has won a maiden ATP title in Stuttgart, plus defeated big names such as Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini.
Now he is through to the US Open semi-finals without dropping a set. However, sports betting apps still have the 25th seed as a heavy underdog to win the title in New York.
Ahead of the final men’s quarte r-final, which Sinner and Medvedev contest later on Wednesday evening at Flushing Meadows, Draper sits fourth out of the five remaining men at the US Open.
Draper is not bothered by his underdog tag though, and is looking forward to the challenge of playing in his first major semi-final.
“I don't feel kind of overawed by the situations I've been in. It's not getting to me in any sort of way,” Draper explained.
“This is a privilege, and this is an honour to be in this position. You know, this is why I work so hard, so I've got to just keep it going in my stride.
“At the end of the day, I'm not afraid of being in these positions. You know, I want to keep on doing this, and this is why I play.”
The Brit pays 8.00 to win, in front of only Frances Tiafoe who is on 13.00. Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Medvedev are all favoured over Draper, with odds between 1.90 and 5.50 to win the 2024 US Open.
