Jack Draper: British No. 1 has ‘so much left in locker’ ahead of US Open showdown with close friend Jannik Sinner

Jack Draper has enjoyed a breakthrough tournament at Flushing Meadows this year, charging through to the semi-finals without dropping a set. The British No. 1 had never been past the last 16 of a major before, but insists he has "so much more left in my locker" ahead of his semi-final face-off with friend and doubles partner Jannik Sinner. "I don't feel overawed by the situation," he said.

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Jack Draper believes he has “so much left in my locker” after reaching his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open without dropping a set.

The British No. 1 flattened 10th seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 on Wednesday in his first major quarter-final and faces world No. 1 Jannik Sinner next.

Draper is enjoying the biggest fortnight of his career in New York, but said after his latest commanding victory that he still has a lot more to give.

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“Coming here this week, I've been feeling like a more complete player,” the 22-year-old said at a press conference.

“Physically, I've always in the past worried a little bit about playing five sets and mentally and emotionally it being too much for me, and just thinking, am I good enough to play the best players in the world in best-of-five sets?

“Even though I have won all of them in three sets, I still feel like I have got 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.”

Before this week, Draper’s best Grand Slam run had been a charge to the last 16 at Flushing Meadows last year, where he lost to Andrey Rublev.

But 2024 has been a hugely encouraging year for the Englishman, as he won his first Tour-level title in Stuttgart in June before competing for Team GB at the Olympic Games in Paris.

And the No. 25 seed insists he is ready to rise to the occasion after an injury-hit 2023 season.

“I've got amazing people around me, I've got a good team. I don't feel overawed by the situations I've been in. It's not getting to me in any sort of way,” Draper added.

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“I try and stay off my phone, try and sort of just do the things that make me happy and do the things that are important.

“I think it helps the fact that I've been in a lot of kind of low points already in my career where I've had injuries, I've had setbacks, 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 this sort 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 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. I want to keep on doing this. This is why I play.”

He added: “Last year was a real turning point for me, when I had my injury setbacks. Taking a lot of time off over the summer because of my shoulder injury, I had to 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 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.”

Next up for Draper is a daunting battle with world No. 1 and reigning Australian Open champion Sinner for a place in the final.

The Italian has won five titles this year, including his first major in Melbourne and the Cincinnati Masters in the lead-up to the US Open.

But the 23-year-old is a familiar face for Draper, as the pair played doubles together in Montreal last month, reaching the quarter-finals.

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"Jannik is a good friend, someone I'm definitely close to,” Draper said.

"We send each other messages in good moments, bad moments. It's a tough sport to play when you're a young guy.

“You're on the road, you're playing such a relentlessly intense sport, both physically and emotionally. It's difficult, we haven't got many friends.

“To have the support of someone who's going through it themselves is really big. Huge respect for Jannik and it was amazing to play doubles with him in Montreal. I think we played great doubles together.

“I'd never won a doubles match on the tour, so to play obviously with the No. 1 player in the world was amazing and I definitely learned a lot about playing doubles and had a lot of fun with him.”

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