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Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterSep 6, 2024, 05:10 AM ET
- • Joined ESPN in 2011
• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018
British tennis star Jack Draper says his run to the US Open semifinals has been inspired by Emma Raducanu‘s 2021 triumph, and has called on critics to “give her time” to get back to her best.
Draper faces world No.1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s semifinals on Friday. It is his first foray to the final four, and is reminiscent of Raducanu’s astonishing run in 2021 at the same tournament where she went from qualifier to winning the Slam.
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The 22-year-old is yet to drop a set and says Raducanu, along with Andy Murray, have helped inspire his journey at Flushing Meadows.
“What Emma did was obviously incredibly inspiring,” Draper told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’ve known her from a young age and to see what she did was incredible. I was very proud of her, very excited, watching it thinking, obviously we’ve watched the likes of Andy Murray winning a Grand Slam from Great Britain, but her winning, it was just really a fairytale run.
“I definitely think as a competitor, it fuelled my fire. I really wanted to achieve what she’d done, winning a grand slam.”
Raducanu has had a tough run of it since taking her first Slam in 2021. She’s struggled with injury and fitness, with her best return at a Slam seeing her reach the fourth round of Wimbledon this year. It has prompted criticism from some ex-pros, but Draper says she needs time to find her rhythm.
“I think it’s important that people give her time to be on her journey and to improve physically and to put years of working to get back to that point,” Draper said of Raducanu.
Jack Draper will face Jannik Sinner in the US Open semifinals. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
“There’s no doubt it was extremely difficult for Emma, because she’d done her A-Levels, and she’d just come out of school, and all of a sudden she came here, and she had a dream run and won, and I think the expectation on her after that was huge.
“She hadn’t necessarily built up the physical foundations and the general foundation you need to be on the tour full time.
“I think it was difficult for people to expect her to start winning everything, left, right and centre. Because even though she’d won one of the biggest tournaments in the world, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready to compete on the tour, week in, week out.”
Draper is seeking to become the first Brit to win the men’s singles at the US Open since Murray triumphed in 2012.
The Briton’s run to the final has seen him overcome Zhang Zhizhen, Facundo Diaz Acosta, Botic van de Zandschulp, Tomas Machac and Alex de Minaur all in straight sets.
