By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jack Draper’s coach James Trotman was savouring the young Briton’s “surreal” run to the U.S. Open semi-finals on Wednesday, as the 22-year-old offered further hope to British tennis fans that he could be the heir to Andy Murray.
Draper overcame a mid-match thigh injury concern to down Australian 10th seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 on Wednesday to become the first British man to reach the U.S. Open semi-finals since Murray won the tournament 12 years ago.
“Pretty surreal, to be honest with you. It still hasn’t quite sunk in,” said Trotman. “To compose himself again and get his head back into the process of what he needed to do to win that match was an incredible effort.”
Draper was ranked 123rd when he made an inspired run to the fourth round last year, defying the odds after an injury plagued season as the British old guard crashed out, before losing to Andrey Rublev.
This time around he has become the leading contender to pick up the torch from Murray, a month after the former world number one played his last match at the Olympics.
Draper lacks the major experience of his two potential semi-final opponents, 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, but has played with the confidence of a veteran in his 10th Grand Slam main draw appearance and is yet to drop a set.
“He’s maturing all the time. He’s secure with his game, he understands that he can’t go out and burn all of his energy and all of his emotions early on,” said Trotman.
“It’s just a sign, I think, that he’s becoming more comfortable on this stage and playing with the best players in the world.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
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