Jack Draper become inspiration to the kids at his former (Surrey) school

Learns from the school Jack Draper attended have wished him all best as he is set take on tennis world no.1Jannik Sinner in their US Open semi-final tonight.

The learners described how he feels after watching the 22 year old completing all set without dropping single set.

The gathering happened at Parkside School in Cobham, Surrey, a school Draper attended as a child and where his mother Nicky helped with tennis coaching.

Learners said they dreamed of growing up to ‘be like him’ after watching the British number one and regarded as Sir Andy Murray’s heir apparent, achieve his best performance at a tennis Grand Slam.

Draper was born in Sutton, south London, before relocating to Ashtead in Surrey and attended Parkside School, a private school in nearby Cobham.

Here is what the learners told BBC: “The fact he was one of us is just crazy – that we could grow up to be somebody like him.”

Another said: “It’s amazing he was in our school and now he’s British number one, playing in the US Open, about to play against Sinner.”

The third said: “If he wins this, that’s going to be the best thing ever. I’m not going to say that he will because that would be outstanding, outstanding.”

Jack Draper’s mother Nicky told the media publication that if her son manage to defeat Sinner then she will have to postpone her trip to New York.

She even told the BBC radio 4 that she has been able to watch her son with her father and her dog, as she has done throughout the past fortnight and even tonight she would love to do the same.

Nicky said “I’ve been watching every match with my dad, with my dog, swearing and cursing, jumping up and down, clapping, having a glass of wine at the same time. I’ve got both of my boys out there, I think they’re doing fine without me.”

Ms Draper was a former British junior champion herself and introduced Jack to tennis as a child, while her other son Ben acts as his brother’s agent.

She previously coached at Sutton Tennis and Squash Club while her ex-husband Roger Draper was chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association up until 2013.

On Wednesday Jack Draper edged Australian world number ten Alex De Minaur with a straight set.

After the match Draper emphasized that it took him time to produce such amazing performance.

Draper said “This is not kind of like an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come.

“I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself.

“It’s amazing. On the biggest court in the world, it’s a dream come true for me. I’ve got amazing people around me, I’ve got a good team. I don’t feel kind of overawed by the situations I’ve been in. It’s not getting to me in any sort of way.”

Draper’s wish is to reach the same archivement that is being set by his fellow British star player Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021.

Draper said “What Emma did was inspiring. I’ve known her from a young age and to see what she did was incredible. It fuelled my fire.

“I really wanted to achieve what she’d done – I took a lot of motivation from it.”

BY LUCKY SEANEGO