Jack Draper swatted Alex de Minaur aside in straight sets to reach his maiden grand slam semi-final at the US Open on Wednesday. (More Tennis News)
World number 25 Draper has enjoyed a breakout tournament at Flushing Meadows, not dropping a set en route to becoming Britain's first US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Murray in 2016, and he carried that form into the last four.
The opening set featured three straight breaks of serve early on but it was Draper who edged that battle, dictating the tempo from deep and winning 84% of points behind his first serve as he took the opener 6-4.
De Minaur struggled to handle the 22-year-old's heavy groundstrokes as he gave up another early break in the second set, only to hit back to level things up at 4-4.
Draper, though, held his nerve after going 5-4 down, holding to love then immediately breaking to surge into a two-set lead.
He only improved from there and dominated the third set, producing one highlight-reel winner from his left hand after being forced to improvise with a series of lobs from deep.
Breaks in games five and seven brought up a chance to serve for the match, and Draper produced four outstanding points in succession to clinch his place in the last four, where he will face Jannik Sinner or Daniil Medvedev.
Data Debrief: Draper dominates again
For a player who had never previously gone beyond round two at any grand slam, the manner of Draper's progression at Flushing Meadows has been astonishing.
He has only dropped 36 games at the tournament thus far. In the last 40 years (since 1985), only Novak Djokovic (27 in 2016, 32 in 2012 and 33 in 2013) and Ivan Lendl (34 in 1987) have ever reached the men's semi-finals at the US Open while losing fewer games.
