Jack Draper has revealed that he considered quitting tennis after fearing he was not cut out for the top level.
Ahead of his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open tonight, the 22-year-old admitted he had come close to abandoning the sport on more than one occasion.
Draper found himself at a crossroads during Covid, with opportunities limited to break through into the senior ranks, and again in 2022 after a litany of injuries. But after a largely injury-free season, he has broken into the world’s top 25 and is the first British man in the US Open last eight since Andy Murray in 2016.
Speaking ahead of his encounter with Alex de Minaur, the British No1 said: “You have all these big dreams and then you come out of the juniors and you’re into the grind. You have to go to all these hard places and beat men. It got to lockdown and it was really tough for players to break through. I thought maybe I wasn’t cut out for tennis.
“I came back and worked hard, and then had another moment in 2022 where I thought, with all my injuries, whether again I was good enough to sustain being the top player I wanted to be. My mindset at the middle of last year really shifted. I wanted to be as professional as possible, to achieve as much as possible.”
Draper cut a disillusioned figure after bowing out of the first round of the French Open and was knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon. But in New York, he has exceeded his previous best at the majors to reach the last eight.
He goes into tonight’s match as the underdog against No10 seed De Minaur, who has won all three previous meetings.
But he said: “I’m beginning to believe more and more in my capabilities, that one day [my] dreams can come true.”
