Physical superiority helps Draper turn the tide against De Minaur

Jack Draper had been 0-3 lifetime against Alex de Minaur heading into the US Open quarter-finals on Wednesday afternoon. Their first meeting at Wimbledon in 2022 produced two very competitive sets before De Minaur ran away with the third and fourth. Last all in Tokyo, the Aussie outlasted Draper in a third-set tiebreaker. Earlier this season in Acapulco, the British left-hander retired in the third set while trailing 4-0.

De Minaur had been the physically fitter player in their matchups, but on Wednesday the roles were reversed.

It’s no fault of De Minaur’s, of course. Instead, he was simply the victim of bad luck at Wimbledon — where he suffered a hip injury in the final game of his fourth-round victory over Arthur Fils and was forced to withdraw prior to a quarter-final date with Novak Djokovic. The world No 10 proceeded to miss the Paris Olympics and the entirety of the hard-court warmup events prior to arriving in New York. De Minaur looked decent — if not 100 percent — in the first four rounds but was visibly struggling throughout a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 loss to Draper.

I feel really strong out there, so that’s something that’s really improved for me.

Jack Draper

On the other hand, Draper is healthy and flying. The 22-year-old has not dropped a single set this whole fortnight — that’s 15-0 in total sets for those counting. He hasn’t been tested, but he will be ready for a test if he gets one in the semis or final.

“Coming here this week, I’ve been feeling like a more complete player,” the world No 25 explained. “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, and kind of just thinking, ‘am I good enough to sort of play these best players in the world in best-of-five sets and stuff?’

“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.

“I think I’m sort of been working physically really hard, and I think that’s helping me to sort of maybe be more efficient and conserve energy. I feel really strong out there, so that’s something that’s really improved for me.

“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. 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.”

Draper was obviously referencing Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. He has a long way to go before he can rival the accomplishments of those two players, but for this tournament at least, Draper has exceeded Alcaraz’s result by four rounds and he could face none other than Sinner in the semis.

It’s safe to say Draper has arrived. And if he stays fit, he could be around for a while.

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