"At the start of the week, there was concern whether I could play one match": Draper exceeds all expectations in US Open run

Britain’s young tennis star Jack Draper has stated that he is extremely pleased with his performance, especially after his recent fitness concerns.

The 21-year-old has already booked his place in the fourth round of the US Open after beating America’s Michael Mmoh in the round of 32 clash with a score of 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.

Talking to the media after the match, Draper stated that just a week back, it was not sure whether his body will allow him to participate in the first round of the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year.

“When I am playing, I’m not here just to, you know, be here and be happy to play,” he said. “Like, I’m a competitor when I get into the matches. I want to win everything. Definitely at the start of the week, there was real concern about my body and with the year I’ve had whether I’d be able to, you know, to play one match. Obviously best-of-five sets, so it’s completely different to what a three-set match even holds.

“It was difficult. Like I said yesterday in the press, you know, I got told I had a small tear in my shoulder at the end of last week, and then we didn’t know if it was related to the previous injury that I’d had, which was quite serious.

"But it turned out it wasn’t. It was in a different place. You know, probably likely to do with my shoulder in the place that I had the injury. But, you know, we just wanted to stay fit this trip.

"That was kind of the goal, you know, to get consistent competition in, because that’s just something I haven’t had. To come here this week and to play the way I have and to compete the way I have and for my body to hold up has been, it’s been pretty special for me, really.”