JACK DRAPER SHOULD BE PROUD DESPITE US OPEN SEMI-FINAL LOSS... HE SHOWED HIS TRUE COLOURS BUT THE HARD WORK STARTS NOW, WRITES DAN EVANS

Jack Draper showed his character as he battled despite vomiting due to anxiety
The 22-year-old's run in the US Open shows that this is far from the end for him
He needs time to learn and improve on route to winning a first Grand Slam

It was a sad way for Jack Draper’s US Open to come to an end, but in defeat he showed his true colours.

I know many players who would have pulled the plug and retired if they were two sets down and vomiting all over the court. Jack didn’t. He battled on and fought and he did everyone, including himself, proud.

He’s had to deal with a lot of adversity in his short career, with a fair few injuries at a young age, but he has always been professional and dealt with things the right way.

No-one knows how they will react when they step out for a Grand Slam semi-final and Jack will learn from the anxiety he said he was struggling with on court.

What this run at Flushing Meadows showed is that this is not the end for Jack, far from it. It’s the start of something big. He won 15 straight sets on the way to the semi-final and beat some good players to get there.

I am sure he will have a great career and go far in Grand Slams in the future, just not necessarily the next one. We all need to remember that. This isn’t the time to pile more pressure and expectation on him. It’s not going to happen in every Grand Slam.

What he did in New York was not normal. He needs time to learn and improve. Jack expects a lot of himself and I’m sure he would admit there’s still much he needs to work on.

Even Andy Murray did not do it in every Grand Slam he played early in his career. Emma Raducanu struggled after she went even further than Jack and won the US Open in 2021.

Her situation was different, of course, and she suffered injuries and needed surgeries and that didn’t help. But I don’t think there’s a danger of what happened to Emma happening to Jack. I know his personality and he’s very grounded and has got good people around him. He just needs time.

When it comes to the final on Sunday, Jannik Sinner will be the favourite, but I do think Taylor Fritz is hugely underrated and has a good chance of springing a surprise.

I’ve played them both and Sinner is a great ball-striker. He hits big, but now also comes forward a lot more and that adds another dimension to his game.

Fritz is more about the big serve and he will get plenty of free points that way.

It’s going to be a fascinating contest and I fancy we could see a home winner. I think Fritz can get the job done.

2024-09-07T22:00:55Z dg43tfdfdgfd