Guernsey Press

Jack Draper joins short list of British men to reach grand slam semi-finals

A look at the seven previous British men to reach the last four of one of tennis’ major events.

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Jack Draper is only the eighth British man to reach the semi-finals at a grand slam event in the Open era.

The 22-year-old has made the last four at the US Open following his win over Australian 10th seed Alex De Minaur.

Here, the PA news agency looks at Britain’s other male semi-finalists at the majors.

Cameron Norrie

Wimbledon 2022 – Day Twelve – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Cameron Norrie lit up Wimbledon in 2022 (John Walton/PA)

SW19 chiefs even took the decision to screen the semi-final, against Novak Djokovic, on Court Two.

Norrie won the first set but bowed out to the eventual champion 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.

Kyle Edmund

The peak of Edmund’s career arrived at the Australian Open in 2018 with a four-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov putting him through to a semi-final against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who had just knocked out Rafael Nadal.

Edmund was beaten in three sets but would reach a career-high world ranking of 14 that year before a knee injury began to take its toll.

Andy Murray

Tennis – 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Day Eleven – The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Andy Murray after his 2013 Wimbledon semi-final win over Jerzy Janowicz (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

His final appearance in the last four at a major came at the French Open in 2017 when, as world number one, he was beaten in five brutal sets by Stan Wawrinka.

Both players exacerbated injuries which all but ended their careers at the very top of the sport.

Tim Henman

Wimbledon Henman
Tim Henman was thwarted by the rain, and Goran Ivanisevic (Tom Hevezi/PA)

Henman also lost to Pete Sampras, twice, and Lleyton Hewitt – all eventual champions – at the All England Club.

In 2004 Henman lost to Guillermo Coria in the Roland Garros semi-finals, and to a 23-year-old Roger Federer in the last four at Flushing Meadows.

Greg Rusedski

British tennis had been something of a longstanding joke until Canadian-born big-server Rusedski reached the US Open final in 1997.

The unseeded 25-year-old, who nearly pulled out of the tournament following the death of Princess Diana, beat former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek in the last eight and Jonas Bjorkman in the semi-final.

Wearing a black ribbon as a mark of respect, Rusedski lost the final in four sets to Australian Patrick Rafter.

John Lloyd

John Lloyd Honda Challenge tournament.
John Lloyd carried British hopes for a decade (Tony Harris/PA)

He lost the final in five sets to America’s Vitas Gerulaitis.

But British hopes weighed heavily on Lloyd, who never made it past the third round at Wimbledon.

Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor was twice a Wimbledon semi-finalist in the Open era (PA)

In 1970 he was beaten by Ken Rosewall and in 1973, the year most of the top players boycotted the Championships, he lost to eventual champion Jan Kodes.

Taylor also reached the last four at the Australian Open in 1970, losing 8-6 in the fifth set to Aussie Dick Crealy.

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