‘No expectations’ – Draper digs in on US Open return

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

After going through a rigorous fitness assessment on his return to action at the US Open, British No. 1 Jack Draper claims that he doesn’t have “too much expectation.”

Federico Agustin Gomez, an Argentine qualifier, defeated the fifth seed 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.

After suffering an arm injury, Draper, who reached the semi-finals of New York last year, was playing his first game since early July.

Draper said, “I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it here.”

On his return from the scene of his breakout Grand Slam run, Draper, 23, is viewed as one of the contenders for the title.

The left-handed Englishman will ultimately be content with how he largely negated Gomez’s explosive game, even though he isn’t quite at his trusted and powerful best.

At the baseline, Draper put in a lot of pressure on himself, asking questions that his 203rd-ranked opponent could not consistently and satisfactorily respond to.

Gomez managed to extend the game before Draper regrouped to claim victory with his second match point after saving a tie-break save.

I don’t have too much of a high regard for myself. Draper continued, “I’m so happy I can compete.

Draper’s upper left arm was completely in focus as he entered the singles court for the first time since his shock Wimbledon exit almost eight weeks ago.

The purpose of the investigation was not necessarily to assess his beefed-up muscles, but to look for any weaknesses in his recently strained humerus.

Draper competed in last week’s revamped US Open mixed doubles competition to improve his sharpness, but he did not compete in the recent ATP 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati to give himself time to recover.

Draper reintroduced as a singles man, and he put a compression sleeve on his troublesome serving arm, which provided support and comfort.

Draper resisted doing so even though his serve speeds were a little slower than usual before the game.

He wasn’t going at full speed, so an average of 111mph in the first set and a drop of 108mph, 110mph, and 106mph in the third set indicated that.

Draper’s kick serve’s precision was crucial as he dominated the fourth set, which he won and was crucial once more as it didn’t get broken until the third set was over.

There were gasps when Gomez did unleash ferocity off that wing, even though his forehand winners were outnumbered by his own blistering weapon.

A “nervous” Norrie was concerned about arriving at 11:00 local time and needing to recover before facing a top-20 opponent who he had lost three of his previous meetings.

In the end, Korda, 25, who was 30 years old, was not overly concerned because Norrie was 7-5, 6-4 up at the time of the match.

Following a nearly three-month layoff for shin stress fractures, American Korda only briefly made it to the tour this week.

At the start of the second set against Norrie, he called a medical timeout because it appeared he had an abdominal problem.

Norrie was forced to face either Argentine Francisco Comesana or American Alex Michelsen, despite Korda’s persistence for the remainder of the set.

Norrie, who injured his arm in the 2024 US Open and made his debut at Flushing Meadows in 2017, is still racking his nerves in New York.

Norrie remarked, “I was very anxious for the game.”

It’s difficult to compete in a Grand Slam match at 11 a.m. and try to finish at 10 a.m.

Norrie expressed sympathy for Sebastian at Korda’s retirement. He hasn’t played in a while, he’s had a great summer, and he’s been playing against me once.