Jack Draper has been rewarded for his sensational run to the US Open semi-finals.
Jack Draper has broken into the world’s top 20 for the very first time (Image: GETTY)
Jack Draper has risen to a new career-high ranking after reaching the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the very first time. The young Brit made it to the last four of the US Open, where he was beaten by eventual champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
Draper was the first British man since Andy Murray to play in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows and has been rewarded with a new career-high ranking. He has broken into the world’s top 20 for the very first time, climbing five positions from his previous ranking of 25th.
It means Draper is ranked above the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Karen Khachanov, Alexei Popyrin and Arthur Fils. He will be hoping to maintain his strong recent form if he plays at the Davis Cup, which is scheduled to get underway later this week.
The young Brit was beaten by eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals (Image: GETTY)
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The 22-year-old was recently named in the British squad alongside Dan Evans, Billy Harris, Henry Patten and Neal Skupski. Speaking after his run to the US Open semi-finals, Draper admitted to feeling ‘banged up’ but said he was eager to compete at the Davis Cup.
“Davis Cup is a huge deal to me,” he said. “I never really understood it until I played it for the first time. When we were going to Colombia [last February], it was a bit like: ‘Should I go, should I not?’.
“But I went and saw how important it is to everyone, how important it is to be there representing your country. So even though the tennis schedule is full and is relentless, I’ve barely had a day off since the start of the year.
“I want to be there, I want to be competing for my country. I’ll speak to my team, but I want to be there on Wednesday.”
A possible solution could be for Draper to rest up and miss Britain’s opening match against Finland before playing against Argentina and Canada. British captain Leon Smith has acknowledged it will be hard for Draper to play in every match after going further than expected at the US Open.
“We will just have to see how he recovers and how he feels,” said Smith. “Obviously we would be absolutely delighted if he is here and ready to go. He is the strongest singles player on the team, a top 20 player in great form.
“We would love to have him here, but at the same time you have to respect what has just happened. He comes in here high on confidence but he is going to be feeling the effects of a tough summer as well. Level-wise, he can go out and compete against anyone in world tennis.”
