British number one Jack Draper says he wants to be “more aggressive” as he takes on Botic van de Zandschulp in the third round of the US Open on Saturday.
The 22-year-old’s side of the draw has been blown wide open after title favourite Carlos Alcaraz was the subject of a seismic upset in New York, losing in straight sets to world number 74 Van de Zandschulp.
The Dutchman now stands between Draper and a place in the fourth round, with the pair up second on Grandstand at Flushing Meadows.
Draper says he has taken time to reflect on some of his narrow defeats earlier in the year to avoid history repeating itself.
“I took a real look at myself. I said, ‘I need to be more aggressive in certain moments’,” the 25th seed said.
“I think by losing the matches I did, especially there was a period where I lost three or four 7-6s on the trot against good players, I really felt like these guys aren’t going to let me win the match.
“I need to do it myself, and I need to play aggressively.”
If Draper can find a way past Alcaraz’s conqueror he could face Dan Evans in an all-British meeting. Evans takes on 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the first night session match on Louis Armstrong Stadium at midnight.
Evans played the longest match in US Open history on Tuesday when he defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov in five hours and 35 minutes and he backed that up with a convincing straight-set win over Argentina’s Mariano Navone.
The 34-year-old will want to keep his 100% record against De Minaur intact, having beaten the Australian in all three of their previous encounters.
“I’ve played him a few times. I’m not sure the game style has been good for him, but it’s over five [sets], it’s totally different match,” Evans said.
“He’s obviously the favourite for that match.”