Jack Draper said he misses Andy Murray’s “stinky shoes and stinky clothes” but said he has no plans to disrupt his retirement and ask him for advice after storming into the US Open quarter-finals.
Draper believes there is more to come from him at the US Open after a comprehensive win over Thomas Machac. The 22-year-old destroyed the Czech in the fourth round to become the first British male quarter-finalist in New York since Murray in 2016.
Draper beat Murray in their only ATP Tour level meeting at Indian Wells last year in a match that felt at the time like a changing of the guard for British tennis.
“Andy I obviously miss,” Draper said after a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win.
“Shout out to him. What an unbelievable career the guy has had. Icon of the game. I miss him in the changing rooms. I miss being next to his stinky shoes and all of his stinky clothes.
“Andy is a legend. If I have half the career that he’s had, then I’ll be a happy man.”
Draper’s idol Murray won the title here in 2012 for the first of three Grand Slam titles and retired after the Paris Olympics. But Draper said he did not plan on reaching out for advice yet.
“Probably not,” Draper said. “Obviously I feel like he would completely understand and respond to any messages I send him and would give me advice, but I think also at the same time I think he’s kind of enjoying his retirement now and he’s kind of done with it.”
Draper will face Alex de Minaur, the boyfriend of British No 1 Katie Boulter, in the last eight and says his serve can be a secret weapon in his bid to reach the semi finals.
“I think I’m doing good things behind the serve,” Draper said. “I think I’m finding first serves when I need to find them. I’ve saved a lot of break points with good serves and good plays.
“I think I still have got a lot of work to go on my serve as well. I think my serve is a weapon.
“Whenever I look at the stats, I think I see that my first serve when it goes in is a really high percentage, but I still feel like I’m serving not amazingly well.
“So it’s really positive to know that I’m holding serve a lot, and I still feel like there’s room for improvement.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
