"It's been very special" 🌟 | Tim Henman reacts to Draper's US Open quarter-final victory

[Music] Lexus presents tennis on Sky Sports right we have to talk about Jack Draper getting to a first Grand Slam semi-final Tim Henman alongside me who has been to six grand slam semifinals this is really quite exceptional for Jack doer to be doing this I suppose so quickly in his career considering how difficult it has been for him over the last couple of years yeah it's been very special um I think his um performances so far and and um you know he's certainly not the youngest but I think when you reflect on the journey that he's had some of the uh the bumps in the road the injuries um to see him come out and uh you know make his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and then to come out against deor today and and really dominate proceedings um very impressive um he's cool Karma collected his game uh is is firing on all cylinders so um you know fingers crossed he can keep going yeah just a little bit more on that match against Alex the world number 10 he didn't want to talk too much after the mat about whether he was slightly injured or anything like that but whether he was or wasn't Draper knew exactly what to do to make sure that he could win that match didn't he yeah and I think you got to add into the equation that it was his first time jack's first time out on the Arthur rash Stadium court it's the biggest Court in our Sport and and uh the way that he just looks so comfortable from from the word go um got the first set under his belt 63 in in the second set he had opportunities to really you know run away with it and when he didn't do that then you felt that there was um some adversity to deal with and uh he didn't Panic um he was down four five played a really strong service game and then broke uh to go up 65 and served it out and and uh I think it's that maturity um that has been most impressive we' known that Jack's got a big game and and uh looking so comfortable from the back of the court but the way he controlled his emotions and you know just ran away with it in the third and there was no let up was very very impressive what did you think of the celebration at the end of the match because it's obviously a big deal to get to a semi-final the final forward of a ground slam but it also looked a little bit like he feels he can go furthers yeah definitely there was a celebration and rightly so um you know it's a hell of an achievement to you know come into this tournament and be through to the final four and and uh but there there very much was um the feeling that that Jack wants more and and just having seen him after the match and he's done a whole host of interviews including Sky Sports and and he's very humble he's very grounded he's not getting ahead of himself he's enjoying this journey and uh yeah I think he believes that he can keep winning how difficult is it to manage that side of things you've been through it particularly the first time he's done every interview that was requested of him he spent a lot of time with the media there'll be other commitments with sponsorship and various things the fans all want to get an autograph and he signed an awful lot of those how do you mentally and emotionally make sure you're not exhausted by the end of today oh and and you know he's been here a long time um you know came in after Cincinnati so the whole practice week and and then you know he's now played five matches and and deep into the second week so you've got to control those um those demands but they're also responsibilities you know he's getting paid you know a lot of money now in in the in these tournaments and from his sponsors but uh um I I think he's you know he is humble he's got um a good team around him he's got uh you know good values and and so I think he's taking his instride and and when you've put in all the hard work and you've come through that journey of playing you know in front of Two Men and a dog and now you're out on ash you you've got to enjoy it and that will you know motivate him to keep working even harder in the future IR respective of the results um you know coming up in the next few days who are the team around him because he wanted to have a solid team of people that he's known for a long time I know you were chatting to his trainer will herberts as well just give us a bit of a background as to who these people are that are that have got him through to this stage yeah and and there are sort of three pieces to that equation you've got um you know a Physio and fitness trainer and the tennis coach and that's where I think um uh you know James strotman has been the common denominator there he's been around for quite some time you look at the way that Jack's game has developed um you know it's been impressive there isn't really any weaknesses um there are a lot of strengths and there are strengths that can still improve and I think that's what's exciting I don't think that Jack has um you know in any way maxed out I think even in this tournament you look at his first percentage uh in the first set of his last three mon matches has been below 50% um he's got to be looking to get that up um above 60% but physically technically mentally um you know he's in a great place and long may that continue do you think that's him building into a match and just taking a bit of time to get used to all of these experiences and surroundings in that first set those Statics and you can't just sort of build your way in against the best players they'll take advantage of that so you know when we've seen Jack's overall first percentage it gets up to about 60% but you know if it starts at 60% then and it improves then he'll end up serving at 70% and he's only lost his serve three times in this tournament but um you know that's where he'll be even harder to break and when you're holding serve comfortably it really gives you the opportunity to you know be even more aggressive on your opponent's serve you can hear from all of the winners on day 10 at the US Open on the Sky Sports tennis podcast you also get the thoughts of Tim hemman