Jack Draper vs Alex de Minaur – US Open LIVE: Latest score and game-by-game updates as Brit marches on into semi-finals

What a point! At 15-0, Draper manages to return De Minaur’s smash at the baseline, and while the Australian can just about cling onto his reponse, his cross-court forehand is another story.

At 40-love, Draper has three match points. But unlike the set points he has seen come and go with little care for them, Draper puts it away first time with a powerful forehand.

Without! Dropping! A! Set! Draper is in his first Grand Slam semi-final.

De Minaur’s on the ropes now, as Draper looks back to his first-set best. Again, the Briton reaches love-40, and although he can’t break his opponent to nothing, Draper punishes a gettable second serve with some punishing cross-court replies.

De Minaur blinks. Draper will serve for the match.

Whether he’s started to get the shakes dreaming of the final four or not, Draper has come out a little shakier, and falls 15-40 behind in his service game in a rare misstep on serve.

An ace rights things for now, but the ensuing fault keeps De Minaur’s break-back within reach.

A leaping volley at the net is too easy for Draper to bullet off his forehand, and he’s neutralised the threat – for now – to bring up deuce.

An ace hands him the first advantage, and Draper can finally take the hold off his second serve with another riotous forehand.

Unrealistic expectations based on unrelated incidents? It must be a Brit in a Grand Slam.

This could be an enormous moment for Draper. Slipping and sliding like Bambi on ice, De Minaur is a step behind his opponent, who dances up to love-40.

De Minaur can claw back a point, but a pin-point accurate forehand of Draper’s leaps down the line as if shot out of a cannon. He has the break! Now to consolidate it…

Again, Draper is able to look so, so confident on serve, striding to 30-love, but an unfocused lofted forehand strays just out of play at De Minaur’s feet.

He’s drawn level 30-all after sending a volley over his shoulder, only for De Minaur to reach it and send a down-the-line winner well past him on the other side of the net.

But Draper wrestles to win the upper hand, pushing De Minaur back and forth on the baseline before he undercooks a backhand into the net.

De Minaur has never won a five-settter from two sets down, but finishing off a competent hold with a 121mph serve, he’s not in a terrible place to make a fist of it on Arthur Ashe.

Draper doesn’t look flustered, however. He has the space and time not to be, after all.

Anything you can do, Draper thinks, as he breezes through his opening service game, and begins the slow march towards what might have felt impossible – certainly last year, but even at the start of this week. A US Open semi-final spot.

Now, is this where De Minaur can make his experience count?

De Minaur has much to reflect on after a less-than-ideal opening two sets, but he’s quicker after the break, and pulls off a no-nonsense opening hold of serve.

Dictating play, Draper maroons De Minaur past the baseline and he skids to deliver a ropey backhand to hand Draper a 30-love lead. An imperfect return sets up three set points… but can he put one of them away sooner rather than later?

Draper squanders the first, then the second, after a second serve leads to a wavering forehand into the net for 40-30.

But again taking the long way round, Draper reaches his destination with a vicious, ungettable smash. Some distance between the two men.

And just like that, the set turns on a sixpence. Draper continues to look confident coming into De Minaur’s service game and looks extremely solid on the baseline.

Although he can’t hold onto his 15-40 lead, Draper doesn’t let the wobble kill off his edge in the game, and secures a much-needed break when De Minaur sends a shaky forehand into the net.

‘You’re going to have to be aggressive, first opportunity,’ Coach James Trotman calls down from Draper’s box. ‘Keep these points short.’

Draper doesn’t need to be told twice, as he powers to 40-love with some thunderous ball-smacking. An ace pulls off the hold double-quick.

‘Back your ball-striking skills,’ Trotman adds at the conclusion of the point. ‘Take the first half-chance you get.’

Draper now looks the weaker force, and Laura Robson on Sky Sports wonders if the Brit isn’t worried about that outside leg movement.

With De Minaur on serve, he’s certainly given a helping hand when the Australian double faults for 15-30. But De Minaur has grown into this set in a big way, and under pressure, Draper wafts his forehand well out of play to hand his opponent a competent hold.

Things could get interesting here! De Minaur is looking far stronger now, as Draper starts ever so slight to fade and lose focus. Suddenly, he’s love-40 down.

Skipping on the baseline, De Minaur waits for Draper’s second serve, and hurls a slew of thundering returns back over the net. With a wobbly backhand, Draper wilts under pressure, and De Minaur has a crucial break.

After strutting to a love-40 lead, Draper falters after a strong spell of serving and is turned around by a leaping passing shot to pull De Minaur back into the game, 30-40.

But De Minaur is still playing catch-up to Draper’s force, and he’s winded by a down-the-line forehand that smacks into the back board to hand Draper the advantage – and break point.

Not this time, says De Minaur’s ace, as the players are levelled out at deuce once again. They trade this status back and force, but in the end, it’s De Minaur who grabs the game by the scruff of the neck and unleashes a sharp ‘come on!’ as he pulls off the hold.

Draper at game point sends a forehand flyer crosscourt but it skips the line by a whisker and allows De Minaur back in, 40-30.

Thinking he has his opponent on the ropes at the net, Draper sends a volley to De Minaur but he catches it with exquisite timing and sends a backhand streaming down the line for deuce.

While Draper is first to the advantage, a wonky dropshot return allows De Minaur to maraud up the court and take advantage, sending Draper spinning with a deeply-struck forehand.

Now De Minaur is staring down break point. But while Draper can only put away his second serve, the ensuing rally sees him finish up with an expert passing shot that tumbles De Minaur and brings them back level.

He took his time, but Draper has his hold. And De Minaur might rue his best chance at a break in this second set.

Draper is forced into some full-throated defending as De Minaur battles to keep pace in the second set, and gets the 30-40 advantage over his Antipodean rival.

But Draper falters in response to a laser-like De Minaur serve and sends his return flying well out, bringing them level at deuce.

An ace gives De Minaur the early advantage, and this time he gets his hold quickly. A stay of execution for the Aussie.

Anxiou Draper-watchers, fear not. After a not-particularly-lengthy MTO, the newly-strapped player is back to business as usual on serve.

He takes advantage of any tweak De Minaur might be feeling to power to a confident hold of his service game.

Instead, the physio rushes on to tend to the Briton, who lifts up his right shorts leg to receive thigh strapping courtside.

De Minaur, I believe, is just sitting – in agony, as I would have had you believe? Perhaps not.

Troubling from De Minaur at 30-all, as he slips and skids on the hardcourt and winces, clutches his hip. There could be an MTO before we know it, as the physio and doctor wait poised on the side of the court.

He’s certainly looking a little cowed and tentative now, and with a whippy unforced error, Draper pulls off his first break of the second set.

Now he’s back on serve, Draper looks to have blown away momentary cobwebs as he sprints to a 40-love lead.

De Minaur stretches Draper across the baseline, before zipping up to the net to outfox him with a neat volleyed winner, allowing him a toehold in the game. But it’s a minimal one – an ace from Draper confirms his hold.

Neither player skips out of the starting blocks as play resumes on Arthur Ashe, but De Minaur pulls off a straightforward hold, which Draper shows minimal resistance to.

At the end of the set, De Minaur looked uncomfortably stretched as the winner streaked past him, and lingered on court.

But so did Draper, as he went through a few hamstring stretches after his final shot before making his way to his chair…

But De Minaur doesn’t want to make it easy for his opponent. He can feast on Draper’s imperfect second serve to grab a slender lead, 15-30, and looks a little livelier after his all-important hold.

Draper on song still has more in the tank, for now, and after a smart piece of serve-and-volley, he has his fifth set point.

He’ll need one more, at least, after he tries the same move again and sinks his backhand volley. At deuce, it’s De Minaur who has the first advantage, but Draper can save it.

A whipped forehand into the net from his opponent hands Draper advantage, and it’s sixth-time’s-a-charm with one of his crushing forehand winners.

A strong start on New York’s biggest stage for Draper!

De Minaur looks grey-faced as Draper romps to a 30-love lead, again giving his opponent a softed second serve to make hay with. Another gives Draper three set points to contemplate.

The No 10 seed plays himself into contention with a springy forehand winner, and then an ace for 30-40, before clawing himself up to deuce. Light on his feet, he stops the run with another errant serve, which allows Draper to rattle a fierce return back at him. When he’s unable to handle it, Draper has his advantage, and set point again.

When De Minaur saves it, Draper thinks he’s won another with a volley which just kisses the sideline – but De Minaur is equal to it and now Draper can’t handle his force, punting the ball out of play.

With the advantage now, De Minaur pulls off his hard-won hold. Draper will have to take the set on his serve, now.

Draper on serve remains a ferocious prospect – when he can get it in – and an ace comes in handy as he sprints to 40-15. But a wild and whippy backhand gives De Minaur a chink of hope as he steps a hair closer to a potential break.

But that’s wishful thinking. Draper pulls another massive ace out of his pocket, which springs past his opponent, and confirms his strong lead.

A confident spell of net play from De Minaur helps him find his footing at 30-30, after Draper’s attempt to beat him cross-court flounders in the netting.

He lets out a quick ‘come on!’ when Draper hits long past the baseline, and manages to pull off a crucial hold after pushing the Briton back forces him to net a second time.

A brief respite from the back-and-forth breaking between the two players, thanks to a towering service game from Draper.

He barely bats an eyelid as he pulverises De Minaur to love, and consolidates that last break, leaving his opponent with a lot to do if he’s to keep from conceding any more ground in this set.

Draper wallops down an overhead after his attempt to wrongfoot De Minaur with a dropshot went awry, smacking his way to a love-30 lead.

Despite his wobble in the previous set, Draper is still by far the more solid player, and he quickly wins two break point. De Minaur digs himself out with an ace of one of them, but, pushed back to the baseline, he can only overcook his final backhand to be broken once again.

While Draper’s serve is looking a little rocky, his forehand is reliable as ever, as De Minaur plays into his hands and allows his opponent to rip a winner past him.

But just minutes after nicking a game off De Minaur, Draper falls victim to his own break, as the Briton’s focus wobbles. A double fault, followed by a shaky backhand, and the Aussie is finally on the board.

De Minaur begins tentatively and quickly falls love-30 behind as Draper moves to seize the upper hand with aggression. But the Australian can pick up his first point of the match – and stop the rot – when one of those punchy backhands is blasted into the net.

His next one is a peach, however. Draper teases De Minaur up to the next with a chipped backhand volley, and although his opponent can catch it, Draper sends a cross-court flyer well past him for break point, 40-15.

An imperfect backhand from De Minaur just skids onto the tramlines to hand Draper the game. Very little to complain about, from his perspective.

As Arthur Ashe begins to buzz with spectators, Draper – clad in tennis-goth purple and black – serves an ace with his first shot on the historic court.

Draper cruises through his opening service game as De Minaur looks rusty on the return, and wins to love.

He may not look entirely relaxed, but Draper certainly looked the more settled of the two players talking to Brad Gilbert in the famed Arthur Ashe tunnel ahead of time.

But now both men are ready to go, let’s see if he can bring the same confidence to the court.

After all the Brits were knocked out of this year’s Wimbledon – somewhat worryingly early – De Minaur (boyfriend of British women’s No 1 Katie Boulter) was more than happy to become an honourary Pom in front of a home crowd.

But things a little more intimidating when he goes toe-to-toe with their compatriot.

Now for three minutes of warm-up. Sky Sports noted earlier that De Minaur’s practice session looked notably intensity-free a few hours out from today’s match-up. Keeping himself on ice – or managing the return of a perilous injury?

Draper heads out first, and is greeted with a big cheer from the crowd, with De Minaur on his heels. It’s a mostly abandoned Arthur Ashe for the moment, the fans likely refilling their Honey Deuce cups in the break.

They’ve got just about four minutes to get back to their seats. This should be a ripper. De Minaur has the upper hand in match-ups so far, but he hasn’t met this year’s Draper model – I think the Brit upstart gets it done in five.

The Brit has been absolutely flying in New York, and comes into today’s clash comparatively well-rested, extremely fit, and firing.

Having been given a helping hand in his first round tie against Zhang Zhizhen when the Chinese player retired in the third set, Draper went on to beat Facundo Diaz Acosta in straight sets, before downing Botic van De Zanschulp – the Carlos Alcaraz Slayer – 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round.

Routing Tomas Machac two days ago 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in lightning-quick fashion could prove the cherry on the cake. De Minaur has struggled to get things down in three in New York, and could be feeling his feet so soon after recovering from his hip injury.

There might have been familiar faces in Draper’s box in his round of 16 match against Tomas Machac – US Vogue editor Anna Wintour for one – but the Brit’s true supporters, his close-knit family, has flown somewhat under the radar.

Have a sift through Mail Sport’s look at the extended Draper family, below.

Despite looking increasingly unwell, Muchova’s unbelievable class shone through and the Czech was able to close out the match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. She’s had an amazing comeback in New York this tournament in the wake of last year’s wrist surgery, which saw her sidelined for ten months.

She’ll play either Jessica Pegula or Iga Swiatek in her semi-final – the two do battle on Ashe in tonight’s night session.

Not long to go now until Draper v De Minaur…

Draper took the opportunity to get a feel for the number one court earlier today – according to his coach James Trotman, he’s been sticking his nose onto Arthur Ashe at the start of his days in Flushing just in case.

In a few minutes, he’ll be able to experience it for real.

Things aren’t looking so straightforward in the quarter-final between Karolina Muchova and Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Czech player pulled off an absolute thrashing of her Brazilian adversary in the first set, pummelling her 6-1, but things are looking a little dicey in the second.

First, Muchova has needed to take repeated trips off court, with a possible stomach upset, or some kind of sickness. And next, at 5-3 against her, Haddad Maia requested a medical timeout amid what looked like a panic attack. The world No 28 is thought to have said that she believed she was going to be sick, but after the MTO, is back on court, and leading the ninth game 30-0.

Draper v De Minaur will be getting underway on the showcourt about 20 minutes after the conclusion of their contest.

Draper may be breaking new ground in New York this week, but it’s been no time at all since he was questioning his vocation altogether.

You can read about his crisis of faith – and subsequent barnstorming 2024 – via Mail Sport’s Matthew Lambert’s report, below.

Good evening – or afternoon – and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of Jack Draper’s first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance: a tantalising US Open match-up against world No 10 Alex de Minaur.

The 22-year-old has only been British No 1 for just over three months, but his spell at the top of his nation’s men’s game has seen him in the form of his life. In New York, he’s certainly looked dangerous, scything through the draw so far without dropping a set.

De Minaur has enjoyed a similarly ground-breaking 2024, but was forced to withdraw from his Wimbledon quarter-final due to injury. The Australian only returned to competition last week in Flushing Meadows, and has had a much more circuitous route to Arthur Ashe this afternoon.

But is it too early for Draper to be dreaming of a spot in the semi-final? Join us as we bring you all the build-up, analysis, and more from a sunny New York City.