Britain's Jack Draper reaches first major semifinal at US Open ESPN

NEW YORK -- Jack Draper powered into his first Grand Slam semifinal, beating Alex De Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 on Wednesday to become the first man since 2020 to reach the final four at the US Open without dropping a set.

The No. 25 seed from Britain relied on his serve that reached 128 mph to set up some of his 40 winners, and he broke the 10th-seeded De Minaur's serve six times.

"It's amazing. To be out here, my first match on the biggest court in the world, honestly, it's a dream come true for me," the 22-year-old Draper said.

Draper is the first British man to reach the US Open semifinals since Andy Murray won the title in 2012.

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Draper said he hasn't spoken to Murray recently -- "I think he's enjoying his retirement" -- but noted the former world No. 1 is "always there for me if I need him."

"At the same time ... I feel pretty relaxed," Draper said. "I feel pretty good, and I'm just taking it one day at a time, and looking to keep on going forward."

He will face either top-seeded Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in Friday's semifinals.

"I'm a big sports fan, a big tennis fan, so I'll definitely be watching the match tonight if it doesn't go too late," Draper said.

Medvedev was the last man to reach the semifinals in Flushing Meadows without dropping a set, the year before he won the 2021 title. The last man to win the title without dropping a set was Neale Fraser in 1960.

Draper's win over De Minaur, who was hampered by a hip injury, is his second straight over an ATP top-10 player after taking out No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's Club in June. Before that, Draper had a 2-11 record against the ATP's top 10.

De Minaur, forced to pull out of his quarterfinal match at Wimbledon because of the injury, said he believed he was trending in the right direction -- but "today was a little bit the opposite of that."

"Jack is never easy to play in the best of times, and the way he can spread the court, being a lefty and really move you around the court, it takes a toll on the body," De Minaur said. "Accumulation of matches takes a toll, as well.

"He deserves the win. ... In the few chances that I had I wasn't able to execute."

Draper has dealt with his own physical struggles. He beat No. 8 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round of his US Open debut in 2022, but then he stopped playing in his next match because of a leg injury. He spent much of 2023 sidelined by a shoulder injury.

"Last year was a real turning point for me, when I had my injury setbacks and took a lot of time off over the summer," Draper said. "I had to watch all these young, amazing players winning amazing tournaments. I was playing on the biggest stage in the world and I felt like I just wasn't doing enough to get to that point myself.

"This is not an overnight thing for me. I've believed for a long time that I've been putting in the work and doing the right things. I knew that my time would come."

That time came Wednesday against De Minaur, an Australian who had won all three of their matchups.

"I feel the best, fitness-wise, I've been in a long, long time, and I think that's where Alex has sort of got me in the past," Draper said. "I also think he was maybe struggling a little bit today with something, which may have helped me."

De Minaur said Draper had improved every time they'd played and praised his work ethic.

"He's got weapons, he knows how to use those weapons effectively," De Minaur said. "And look, he's yet to lose a set in this tournament, so he's got to be doing something right."

After starting the year ranked No. 61 in the world, Draper is assured of breaking into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.

ESPN Stats & Information, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.