Andy Roddick makes a bold Jack Draper prediction ahead of US Open showdown
Andy Roddick has made a bold call ahead of Jack Draper’s US Open quarter-final against Alex de Minaur, as he reflected on the key improvement in the Brit’s game.
Draper is daring to dream big in New York and is not ready to stop at the US Open quarter-finals after becoming the first British man to reach the last eight since Andy Murray in 2016.
He has yet to drop a set in his opening four matches, with his form echoing that of fellow Briton Emma Raducanu, who claimed the US Open title in 2021.
“I think I’ve just got to keep on going because I know that there’s still room for improvement and still room to hopefully go further in the tournament,” he said.
“I feel like in most of the matches I’ve just had to control what I can control.
“I feel like my base level is good, but I still feel like if I need to, I can improve my level a lot more.
“I feel like there’s still a long way for me to go and a lot that I can still improve on in this tournament, and I think obviously as the challenge gets higher and as I play even better players, I think hopefully my level will increase with that.
“I think that’s the main thing about tennis. You know, we can’t play our best tennis all the time.
“It’s about how we’re coming through on the days when we’re not playing our best or when things aren’t perfect or when we’re not feeling great.”
Now he has received A-list backing in his US Open quest, after 2003 Flushing Meadows champion Roddick backed Draper to beat De Minaur and reach the semi-finals.
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“I’m going to go with Draper,” he said while previewing an enticing last eight match-up on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“It takes a massive serve to affect Demon (De Minaur). He doesn’t miss a lot of returns. He is very, very fast, but I like Draper here.
“Jack Draper’s backhand was very average and that’s coming from someone whose backhand was less than average.
“He also used to make weird errors, but he has looked rock solid. The return of serve is there.
“I walked past him in the locker room and he is a big dude. That’s a big mammal.
“A lot of progress in is game no matter how it goes from here.”
Roddick’s admiration for Draper comes after he was outspoken in his claim the Brit knew he hit a volley into the ground on his match point against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Cincinnati Masters tournament earlier this month.
Draper insisted he didn’t know the point should have been awarded to Auger-Aliassime, but Roddick stated his belief that he knew he was in the wrong.
“It was a huge story, but I’m not mad at anyone,” said Roddick.
“I’m mad at the rule. The lack of common sense from the rules committee.
“Guess who I walked into in the locker room this morning… Jack Draper. After I had said he had buried a shank right into the ground all week.
“And he couldn’t have been nicer. I thought he was definitely not a listener (to Roddick’s podcast)!
“He didn’t cheat. That was not his call to make. That’s not his job, he has enough to do.
“I genuinely like Jack Draper. I am a fan of his game. He can do a lot to bother a lot of people with that big leftie serve.”
