"We were almost in tears, what more can we do?" - Jack Draper reveals almost missing US Open due to injury scare
British tennis player Jack Draper went through to the third round of the 2023 US Open on Thursday, his second consecutive year reaching the stage in New York. As it turns out, he was very close to not playing in the tournament at all because of an injury in the lead-up to Flushing Meadows.
Jack Draper dispatched Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the last Grand Slam of the season in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5.
During the press conference after the match, Draper recalled how his coach and physio reacted when they got to know he might have to skip the trip to New York after his medical check-up at Winston-Salem, saying:
"In Winston, I felt something in my arm again that I hadn't had in a while, and came here with the intention - we'll take it day by day. I had a scan and I had a very small bit of edema in my arm, which is basically a tear."
"I was looking with my coach and physio thinking, you know, just another bit of time off. We were almost in tears. What more can we do?"
Now that he is one win away from reacing the second week at the US Open, Draper couldn't help but think about how "weird" the sport of tennis worked and hoped that this could be the start of something good for him.
"It's weird how sort of this sport works. Sometimes you can be at your lowest point and then all of a sudden, you know, you get on a bit of form and, you know, you're playing great and body feels good," Draper stated.
"Hopefully, touch wood, you know, this is going to be the start of something, you know," he added.
Jack Draper to face Michael Mmoh in the third round of US Open 2023
Jack Draper vs. Michael Mmoh will be the somewhat unlikely third round encounter at the 2023 US Open, with both of the players previously eliminating higher-ranked players.
Draper dispatched Radu Albot, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round, and World No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5, in the second round. Meanwhile, Mmoh eliminated World No. 11 Karen Khachanov, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round, and John Isner, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(7), in the second round.
This will be the second head-to-head encounter between the American and the Brit. Draper won their previous duel in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Forli 5 Challenger, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
The winner of this match will face either Arthur Rinderknech or Gael Monfils/Andrey Rublev in the fourth round of the tournament.