The boy with the big dreams has, step by step, season by season, become the man capable of striding into the semi-finals of the US Open without dropping a set.
Jack Draper – an “absolute tennis keeno”, in the words of former British number one Laura Robson – was not blessed with height as a boy.
But a timely growth spurt in his late teens took him to 6ft 4in and now his body has got used to the idea, the 22-year-old is starting to look highly dangerous.
Capable of making short work of service games and dominating from the baseline, Draper has also been thinking carefully about two things central to many of our daily lives: smart phones and caffeine.
Draper played two practice sets with Cameron Norrie before Queen’s back in 2022. Draper won the first set but went down an early break in the second. Norrie suggested Draper’s concentration may have been affected by checking his phone at the change of ends.
Draper vowed to leave his phone switched off in practice in future – and, after a discussion with coach James Trotman, has recently decided to cut out caffeine.
“I used to take a lot of caffeine before I played, because I felt maybe sometimes with my emotions, I would feel tired before I played,” Draper told BBC Sport after his quarter-final victory over Alex de Minaur.
“The anxiety would shut me down, so my way of dealing with it was taking on a hell of a lot of caffeine.
“But I learnt that probably wasn’t the best situation because I ended up becoming very wired and very agitated, and I wasn’t able to be present and focus on what’s important.
“I think it was probably best that I cut it out of my life.”
A settled team often leads to a happy and productive player, and Trotman has been with Draper for three years. He also has his older brother, Ben, acting as his agent.
Ben played college tennis at both the University of California in Berkeley and Wake Forest, and can brag about a perfect record against his younger brother.
In their only meeting – at the Nike Junior International at Queenswood School near London in July 2015 – Ben won 6-1 6-4 against a 13-year-old Jack. The match should have been played on a clay court, but was brought inside because of the weather.
Mr and Mrs Draper also have deep connections to the sport.
Mother Nicky was an outstanding junior player and later became a coach, while dad Roger spent seven years running the Lawn Tennis Association.
Nicky remembers her son hitting tennis balls against the garage wall with both his right and left hand aged just one.
She prefers to leave Draper’s coaching to others these days, but did recently suggest a top spin lob could win him a few more points.
“Lo and behold, the next match he played, he did that,” she told Today on BBC Radio 4.
Draper has also spoken movingly about the role of his grandparents, who took him and Ben to many tournaments in the UK and abroad when they were juniors.
Their ‘Nana’ is now living with Alzheimer’s disease and can no longer understand the success her grandson is having. But Grandad regularly watches his matches, and keeps a close eye on the live score apps and rankings.
He has told his grandson he wants to see him achieve everything he possibly can before his time runs out.
On court, Draper’s core team comprises Trotman – whose clear and concise messages offering tactics and encouragement are picked up by the microphone in the players’ box – along with physio Will Herbert, who was with Emma Raducanu when she won the US Open in 2021, and fitness coach Steve Kotze, who has transformed a body all too prone to breaking down.
Until recently, former top-10 player Wayne Ferreira was also part of that coaching team. He helped him tap into a more aggressive mindset, but after four months, Draper decided he wanted to have just one voice in his ear.
“He’s an amazing guy – his value as a coach, but also as a person, is huge,” Draper said on the eve of the US Open.
“But I’m an over thinker, I like to keep things simple as much as possible, and difficult decisions need to be made in high level sport.”
Two weeks on, Draper is into the semi-finals. He appeared on the front page of Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, under the caption: “Contenders Step Out of the Shadows at the US Open.”
Whatever happens against Jannik Sinner on Friday, Draper will become a top-20 player for the first time – and, as he predicted two years ago, that is unlikely to be his peak.
“I was a really late developer. There are players who have developed really early, and they’re ready to do it when they are 22 or 21,” he said in 2022.
“But I think I’ll be at my peak when I’m 25.”
