At a time when he should have already been building the foundations of his promising tennis future, Jack Draper spent long periods during the formative years of his professional career watching from the sidelines. He simply could not stay fit. His countless injury struggles meant that while his talent has always been undeniable, for so long it was unclear if and when his body would allow it to flourish.
Finally, Draper has arrived at the highest levels of the sport. On Wednesday afternoon, he continued his supreme breakout run in New York by overcoming an ailing Alex de Minaur, the world No 10, maintaining his focus and composure under pressure to reach his first grand slam semi-final at the US Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
I played a solid match, he said. I feel the best fitness wise I've been in a long, long time. I think that's where Alex has got me in the past. I also think he was maybe struggling a little bit today with something which may have helped me. But credit to Alex, he's an amazing fighter, an unbelievable player, and we're going to have many more battles to come.
Five matches into his New York odyssey, Draper, the 25th seed, has still not dropped a set. He is the first British man to reach the semi-finals of the US Open since Andy Murray won his maiden grand slam title here in 2012.
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