Draper: 'I've had times when I've thought I'm not cut out for this sport'

Jack Draper came bursting onto the scene in 2022 and looked poised to quickly rise to the top of the sport. But the 22-year-old has had to remain patient, overcome adversity and work hard to reach Wednesday’s breakthrough moment at the US Open, where Draper advanced to his first major semi-final.

“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.”

Throughout Draper’s young career, injuries have routinely hindered the Briton’s progress. Even in his 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 quarter-final victory against Alex de Minaur, Draper encountered a brief injury scare. He began stretching out his right leg, which was wrapped by the physio at 2-1 in the second set, but it did not hamper Draper's march to victory.

The past few months, Draper has been enjoying the form of his life, claiming his maiden tour-level title in Stuttgart and now into the last four at Flushing Meadows. Regardless of what happens in his semi-final, Draper’s dream run has already ensured the lefty will rise to a career-high in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings.

“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.”

Now, the 25th seed is in the spotlight himself. Draper is the only player to not drop a set this fortnight.

“I think coming here this week, I've been feeling like a more complete player,” Draper said. “Physically, I've always — maybe in the past, worried a little bit about playing five sets and mentally and emotionally it being too much for me, just thinking, ‘Am I good enough to sort of play these best players in the world in best-of-five sets and stuff?’

“I still feel like I have so much left in my locker, I'm not worrying about if it goes longer, if it goes for a long time. It gives me a lot of peace of mind knowing that my body feels good or robust and I'm ready to go the distance if I need to. I feel really strong out there, so that's something that's really improved for me.”

Draper’s coach, James Trotman, added that the Sutton native’s physical improvements have been a key to his charge's recent success.

“Jack has played some really high level tennis matches in the past, but physically it's been a struggle,” Trotman said. “He's a big boy, he's got a big body. It takes time to grow into that. He's had a lot of injuries and a lot of setbacks, so you're not banking that consistent work.”

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