Jack Draper, who is Sinner’s opponent in the US Open semi-final

There is Jack Draper on the road between Jannik Sinner and the final of the Us OpenThe British tennis player, currently number 25 in the world, will face the South Tyrolean around 9pm Italian time on Friday. The two are friends and played doubles in the Montreal tournament a month ago: they eliminated the Belgian pair Gielle-Vieglen and then Shelton-Bubli, but Draper withdrew on the eve of the quarter-finals.

Sinner – Draper, time and where to watch the US Open semi-final on TV

05 September 2024

Jack Draper, Sinner’s opponent in the semi-final

Born in 2001, like Sinner, he will turn 23 in December, Jack Alexander DraperJD to his friends, was born in Sutton and grew up in Ashtead. He comes from a family with the tennis in the blood: his Father Roger was at the helm of the Lawn Tennis Association and also CEO of Sport Englanda public body under the Ministry of Culture. His salary caused a stir years ago: 800 thousand euros, four times more than the then Prime Minister Cameron. His madre Nicky She was a youth champion and then a tennis teacher at Sutton Tennis and Squash Club and Jack at three years old he started to bounce against the wall of the sports center (but mom swears that he took up the racket already at one year old). Even the brother Ben was a college tennis player. From 2006 to 2016 Jack Draper was coached by Justin Sherring at the Weybridge Tennis Academy. In 2017 he passed with Ryan Jones. After a short period with Wayne Ferreirahis current coach is James Trotman dal 2021.

Naturally right-handed, Draper plays left-handed and has a two-handed backhand that is his most powerful shot. He has a remarkable serve to which he adds venomous spin and in his style of play he is capable of sudden variations that put his consistent opponents in crisis. Standing 1.93 (two centimetres taller than Sinner), he was number 7 in the world and as a junior he reached the final at Wimbledon, beaten by Tseng Chun-hsin in 2018.

Draper defeated Sinner in 2021: the previous

A professional since 2018, Draper has long been held back by physical problems to the point that he was thinking of retiring and dedicating himself only to studying. In 2021, he showed up at Queen’s with a wild card and passed in the first round Jannik Sinner winning in two sets, always at the tie-break. This is his first official victory on the ATP circuit and also the only precedent between the two. Sinner was already number 23 in the world, Draper a perfect unknown who stopped only in the quarterfinals against Norrie, in the tournament then won by Berrettini. Lorenzo Musetti also knows Draper well: he lost against him as a junior at Wimbledon, then at the Next Gen in Milan and then in Sofia.

Draper’s successes

Draper won the first trophies of his career in 2022 in Forlì, three Challengers in a few weeks, and in that year he entered the top 100 thanks to the mini-exploit at the US Open where he reached the third round. After 5 Challengers and 7 ITF titles, in August 2024 in Stuttgart he won the first ATP trophy by beating Matthew Berrettini in the final. At Queen’s he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the second round. In Cincinnati, in the tournament won by Sinner, he stopped in the quarterfinals against Rune. His current position in the ATP ranking represents his best ranking.

Draper, a machine in New York

Draper reached the semifinals of the US Open without losing a single set. He defeated Zhang, Diaz Acosta, van de Zandschulp, Machac e of Minaur.

Draper: Curiosities about Sinner’s opponent

Raised with the myth of Andy Murrayhis reference athlete is Conon McGregorMMA champion. Cheers for the Manchester Unitedhas a dog, an Australian labradoodle, loves rap, Oasis and Indian food. If he hadn’t been a tennis player he would have wanted to be a detective. In reality, he has a second job and that is that of a model: he has a contract with IMGposes in his free time and in the past earned a wild card in Madrid (a tournament acquired by IMG) that brought him to the center of a curious controversy. Invited because he was handsome, he then proved to be very good too. Yet the secret of Draper’s rebirth lies in his monastic life: he eliminated alcohol and coffee from his diet, took care of the details of his training and recovery, made a clean break from the past, when he was capable of collapsing on the court or breaking an ankle while hitting a forehand, without forgetting the shoulder and hip problems (like Sinner) and the 12 retirements in matches in progress from 2018 to today.