\n<\/p>\n
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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Two weeks on, Draper is into the semi-finals. He appeared on the front page of Thursday\u2019s Wall Street Journal, under the caption “Contenders Step Out of the Shadows at the US Open”.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“But I think I’ll be at my peak when I’m 25.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n