■At Ariake, for the first time in a year, he showed remarkable improvement. He never allowed a break and beat Hubert Hurkacz, the second seed, against whom he had one win and four losses in the past. Although he showed his fighting spirit during the match, the 22-year-old, who also works as a model, was all smiles on the court after his easy victory.

■In the first set, Hurkacz had a low first serve percentage, and Jack Draper had a mental advantage from the beginning. They were evenly matched in terms of strokes, and turned to the offensive with short and deep shots, such as drop shots. “I reconsidered this after last year when I injured my shoulder,'' he said, adding that his serve has become more stable. He broke the 5th game of both the 1st and 2nd set. He maintained an aggressive stance until the end and pushed through. “It was a very good match against a player in the top 10 who has been successful over the past few years,'' he said.

■A few weeks after the long-time British leading tennis player Andy Murray retired, Draper reached the top four of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the US Open. It looks like he will be able to improve on his personal best ranking of 20. "I never thought of imitating Andy. I do my best with what I can control." Expectations of being the next leading player of Britain is becoming a reality.

■In Tokyo, he made it through the qualifying round last year but lost in the first round. This time, made it to the main draw and defeated a top ranked player, becoming the first British player to make it to the quarter finals since Murray in 2012. "I wanted to come to Japan again. The atmosphere at the venue was also great." How far will he go with the cheers of Japanese fans behind him?