Jack Draper on progressing to US Open semi-final 🎾

Jack if you would your thoughts on the win uh yeah it was a was a solid match from my side um obviously first match on on ash first quarterfinal um was was kind of a different experience um obviously played Alex a few times and know he's a he's a really tough competitor um you know I thought it was it was just a it was just a solid match all around um proud of proud of my performance there was some ups and downs during the match but I felt in general I served pretty well um and you know I did a did a good job to come through thank you big room one question each hi Jack you obviously strapped your leg up after Midway through the second set how are you feeling now and have you got any sort of concerns for for match yeah um you know I felt something on on set point uh in the first set um you know I I I wasn't I was a little bit worried about at the time but then I played two two sets on it um you know I think one of the the things this year that has helped me to sort of be better is you know I'm I'm mentally a lot better you know I feel like um you know I'm I'm aware that I I'm obviously playing so much tennis and um you know competing so much and put my body through so much that I'm going to going to pick up little niggles and and injuries and I've got to just keep on keep on going and you know at the end of the day it didn't get any worse and I felt I felt good good towards the end and um yeah I was I was happy it it didn't turn into a problem toan toan out from the guardian uh you've talked a lot about how much you believe you're capable of Performing like this and and going deep in big tournaments but despite that I'm curious if um you've surprised yourself at thought with with any with the way you've handled yourself throughout the fortnite and yeah the way you've played and also what you're most happy about in general yeah I mean yeah it's weird I don't I don't think I've to be honest I haven't really thought of anything you know I don't think much is kind of going from my mind it's a little bit weird you know I'm just trying to focus on on what's important what I've got to got to keep doing what I got to try and do in the next match um for now I'm just uh focusing on you know my recovery um you know definitely staying off my phone and just trying to trying to focus on what's important and also enjoying the win you know not taking these moments for granted um I think yeah I mean I've been been working so hard for such a long time now you know I I'd say last year was a was a real turning point for me kind of when I had my injury setbacks and taking a lot of time off over over the summer because of my shoulder injury um you know I had to sort of watch um you know all these young amazing players uh winning amazing um tournaments and and playing on the biggest stages in the world and you know I felt like you know I just wasn't wasn't doing enough to to get to that point myself so you know this is this is not kind of like an over night thing for me you know I've I've believed for a long time that you know been putting in the work and and and doing the right things and and I knew that my time would come and I didn't know when it would be but you know hopefully hopefully from here you know I can can do a lot of amazing things and I'm very proud of myself Charli yeah congratulations um I just want you you mentioned in your unot interview that you're aware that maybe something wasn't quite right with Alex how quickly did you realize that and how how strange is that when you're playing something like that to and to just try and stay focused and not think about it yeah it's hard um you know I I definitely was aware that obviously Alex hasn't played since wimon I know he had a he had a tough injury you know whenever I whenever I played Alex or watched him in the past you know the guy moves incredibly well and he's so fast um you know Relentless off the ground doesn't miss balls um I definitely felt like you know towards the end of the first set I noticed that maybe I didn't know he was maybe struggling with injury but I definitely felt like his his uh maybe the way he was was a bit subdued maybe that kind of made me realize why he's he's maybe got something slightly wrong um but then again maybe I I was hurting a little bit as well so it was a bit of a strange situation I definitely felt in the second set like had a few opportunities and it was it was there for me to sort of take the set pretty early on but I didn't um and I think part of that was to do with maybe focusing on myself too much and not sort of realizing what was going on the other side of the court and also it's tough you know I was playing someone who you know moves still pretty well and um was was making balls and and it was It was kind of difficult to play the way I wanted to play like I started becoming more passive and um was sort of playing for him to miss instead of the playing the tennis that I'm supposed to be playing which is to to be aggressive to be on the front foot um but it is a challenge playing someone who who maybe isn't 100 % um but yeah like I said it was it was kind of like a weird weird situation right Neil and then Chris what makes you feel this your time has come now and are you ready for anybody or anything now yeah I mean i' I don't know because you know I'm still had a lot of these experiences you know I've never never been in the grand Sam quarterfinal you know I didn't know what to expect and um you know I I I just don't know but one thing I do know is that I've got amazing people around me I've got a team you know I I don't feel uh kind of over overall by by the situations that I've been in I don't um it's not getting to me in any sort of way you know I try and stay off my phone try and sort of just do the things that make me happy and do the things that are important and you know like I said I think it helps the fact that I've been in a lot of kind of low points already in my career where you know I've had injuries I've had setbacks I've had times when you know I've maybe thought to stop or you know am I cut out for this sport am I am I really um good enough and all these sort of stuff and you know I kept on believing in myself kept on working and those those are hard moments you know this is this is kind of not a hard moment compared to that this is this is a privilege and this is an honor to be in this position and you know this is this is why I work so hard so I've got to just keep it keep it going in my stride and you know at the end of the day I'm not I'm not afraid of of being in these positions you know I want to I want to keep on doing this and this is this is why I play Chris yeah Chris IO with you open what have you likeed most about the way you've played through these five matches and are there any elements of your game maybe that you've executed better than you expected yeah I'm I think I think coming here this week you know I've I've been feeling like I'm a more complete player like physically um you know I've always maybe in the past worried a little bit about playing Five sets and and mentally and emotionally being too much for me and kind of um just just thinking am I good enough to to sort of play these best players in the world in in best of five sets and stuff but you know even though I have won most of my matches well all of them in three sets you know I I still feel like I've got so much left in my locker like I'm not worrying about if it goes longer if it goes for a long time you know I'm gives me a lot of Peace of Mind knowing that my body feels good robust and that you know I'm I'm ready to go the distance if I need to and and yeah like my tennis feels feels really flowing and I feel like I'm not using too much energy when I'm playing the points you know that was that was something um you know by playing more aggressive tennis you know I thought that maybe I had to force it all the time and use up so much energy doing it but instead you know I think when we watch the best players in the world one thing they they do is they do everything pretty effortless effortlessly and they do it within themselves and they do things with such good efficiency um and I think you know I'm I'm sort of been working physically really hard and I think that's helping me to sort of maybe be more efficient and conserve energy and I I feel really strong out there so that's that's something that's you know really improved for me power hi Jack Howard fendrich with the Associated Press um does having played each of the potential semi-final opponents in the past help you because you've been on court against them or because it was different surfaces and especially against one of them it's been many years uh are those matches completely irrelevant yeah definitely I think it helps being on court with both of them um you know when I played Daniel in in Rome I didn't know what to expect and I feel like you know when I played him maybe a lot of my errors and a lot of my um you know the way I played in that match was kind of um based on who I was playing and and all this type of things and I think it is tough you know when you play those best players in the world you don't know what to expect and you watch these these guys winning Grand Slams on TV and stuff and you think you know wow I'm going to go out there tomorrow and they're going to be way too good for me whereas you know if you if you put your game on the court and if you do the right things you know you do get chances here and there and even the best players in the world they only win 53 54% of the points so it's just about how clinical you are when it really matters um so you know I look forward to watching them later they're both incredible players um and big respect to the both of them and I think uh I think whatever happens it will be be a really good semi-final and hopefully you know I I'll bring out my best tennis all right we have time for two more in the front then David you can have the last question van support um looking ahead at the semi-finals one of your possible opponents could be C you guys played doubles together uh back in Canada I was wondering if you've had the opportunity to uh keep in touch throughout the summer if you've exchanged any messages uh throughout the tournament and if she's been supportive of your um your tournament here yeah yeah I mean we've we've always kept in touch since since I've been on tour the last couple of years you know Yanik a a good friend um someone I'm someone I'm definitely close to you know we we send each other messages from good moments bad moments and just you know it's it's tough sport to play when you're a young guy you know you're kind of um you're on the Road you're you're playing such a relentlessly intense sport both physically emotionally and it's you know it's difficult we haven't got we haven't got many friends so to to to sort of um have the the support of someone who's going through it themselves um you know is is really big um so yeah huge respect for yanin was amazing to to play doubles with him in Montreal um you know I think we we played great doubles together you know I'd never won a doubles match on the tour um so to to play obviously with the number one player in the world um was was amazing um and definitely learned learned a lot about playing doubles and and had a lot of fun with him so it was was was really nice to be able to step out and CAU with him and yeah I'm sure sure we'll continue to stay in touch David last question hi there Jack David La tennis podcast um I just I know you you said you you've been trying to stay off your phone I just wanted a whether you've had any contact at all with Andy Murray over the last couple of weeks um and in the time that you've SP with him over the years have you ever spoken to him about these sort of moments these sort of experiences that he would have had um you know I haven't spoke to Andy no I think he's enjoying his retirement I think he's playing lots of golf and and um you know just enjoying all the enjoying his family you know he's never seen his family in the last couple of years so I think they're they're you know enjoying having him around um um you know I have I have spoke to Andy a few times in the past about obviously playing big Grand Slam matches and all these types of things you know I feel like when people or you know people you expect give you advice you know it's obviously it's it's always good but at the end of the day it's it's their experience you know I think it's important to you know live these situations yourself and understand it for yourself cuz everyone everyone reacts differently to to different presses different situations different emotions um and so you know I know Andy's there for him for me if I if I need it but at the same time you know I'm I'm I feel pretty relaxed you know I feel I feel pretty good and I'm just taking it one day at a time and and looking to to keep on going forward and yeah I know he's always there for me if I need him right thank you everyone thank you Jack e