US Open 2024: Jack Draper vs Alex de Minaur – quarter-final preview & how to watch | LTA
Although Draper and De Minaur have had inconsistent performances leading up to the US Open, they have both excelled on the grand stage.
The top-ranked British player advanced to the quarter-finals in Cincinnati, but was eliminated in the early rounds in Montreal, the Olympics, and Wimbledon. Despite these setbacks, the player has been performing exceptionally well at the US Open, making it to his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final. This achievement makes him just the fifth British man to reach this stage in the Open Era.
Draper is still adding to his impressive season, where he achieved his first ATP title in Stuttgart, reached the final in Adelaide, and got his biggest career win over former world No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Recently, De Minaur has been dealing with injuries since Wimbledon. However, he has managed to make it to the quarter-finals in the last three Grand Slam events in a row. He is the first Australian player to achieve this feat since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004-05.
The player ranked as the 10th best in the world has managed to secure two championship titles this season in both Acapulco and s’Hertogenbosch. Additionally, he made it to the final in Rotterdam and helped Australia reach the semi-finals in the United Cup. In July, he achieved a personal best ranking of 6th in the world.
US Open: Key Stats
Draper is the sole remaining player in the men's singles bracket who has not lost a set at the US Open.
Actually, he has only lost his serve once in the first four matches he played. Draper has won more than 77% of points when serving first in all of his matches, with an impressive 34 out of 38 (89%) against Facundo Diaz Acosta in the second round.
The British player is also eager to move closer to the net and make the most of his powerful shots from the back of the court. In two out of his last three games, he has approached the net more often than his rival and has hit 29 or more winning shots in each match.
De Minaur has dropped a set in all of his matches except for one, which included a close second set tie-break against Dan Evans, who is on the same Davis Cup team as Draper. This means that De Minaur has played a total of 11 hours and 33 minutes on the court so far, which is over four hours longer than Draper.
One of the main reasons he was able to defeat Jordan Thompson and Otto Virtanen in their matches was because he made fewer mistakes. In both games, he had less than 20 unforced errors, while his opponents had over 50. This is an important factor for Draper to focus on if he wants to reach his first semi-final at a Grand Slam tournament.
