Jack Draper arrived at the US Open simply hoping to stay fit, yet now he is chasing a place in the quarter-finals.

The British number four, 21, has endured an injury-hit year and slipped from a career-high ranking of 38 to outside the top 100.

A shoulder injury saw him miss Wimbledon and threatened his participation at Flushing Meadows.

Yet despite serving within himself in a bid to manage the problem, Draper is the only British player reach the last 16 after winning a tight four-set battle with American Michael Mmoh 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3 on Saturday.

And having reached the second week of a grand slam for the first time, Draper is now looking to go even further.

“I mean, when I am playing, I’m not here just to be here and be happy to play. I’m a competitor when I get into the matches. I want to win everything,” he said.

“Definitely at the start of the week, there was real concern about my body and with the year I’ve had, whether I’d be able to play one match.

“Obviously it’s the best-of-five sets, so it’s completely different to what a three-set match even holds.

“You know, we just wanted to stay fit this trip. That was kind of the goal, you know, to get consistent competition in, because that’s just something I haven’t had.

“To come here this week and to play the way I have and to compete the way I have and for my body to hold up has been, it’s been pretty special for me, really.”

Draper faces Andrey Rublev, the combustible Russian eighth seed, for a place in the last eight.

“He’s been top 10 for many years, having great results, consistently doing well in the slams and won his first 1000 event this year,” added Draper.

“Anyone who you play in the fourth round, I suppose they’ve won three matches and they’re playing good tennis and feeling good out here, so it will be really difficult either way.”

Jack Draper arrived at the US Open simply hoping to stay fit, yet now he is chasing a place in the quarter-finals.

The British number four, 21, has endured an injury-hit year and slipped from a career-high ranking of 38 to outside the top 100.

A shoulder injury saw him miss Wimbledon and threatened his participation at Flushing Meadows.

Yet despite serving within himself in a bid to manage the problem, Draper is the only British player reach the last 16 after winning a tight four-set battle with American Michael Mmoh 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3 on Saturday.

And having reached the second week of a grand slam for the first time, Draper is now looking to go even further.

“I mean, when I am playing, I’m not here just to be here and be happy to play. I’m a competitor when I get into the matches. I want to win everything,” he said.

“Definitely at the start of the week, there was real concern about my body and with the year I’ve had, whether I’d be able to play one match.

“Obviously it’s the best-of-five sets, so it’s completely different to what a three-set match even holds.

“You know, we just wanted to stay fit this trip. That was kind of the goal, you know, to get consistent competition in, because that’s just something I haven’t had.

“To come here this week and to play the way I have and to compete the way I have and for my body to hold up has been, it’s been pretty special for me, really.”

Draper faces Andrey Rublev, the combustible Russian eighth seed, for a place in the last eight.

“He’s been top 10 for many years, having great results, consistently doing well in the slams and won his first 1000 event this year,” added Draper.

“Anyone who you play in the fourth round, I suppose they’ve won three matches and they’re playing good tennis and feeling good out here, so it will be really difficult either way.”

Having provided Tom Clover with a first Royal Ascot success earlier in the season, Rogue Millennium will attempt to break new ground once again when she heads to Leopardstown during the Irish Champions Festival.

Neither Clover or owners the Rogues Gallery have ever had a runner in Ireland, but that will all change when their star filly bids for Group One glory in the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes.

The daughter of Dubawi has been an ultra-consistent performer this term and having successfully dropped back to a mile at the Royal meeting, she will continue to ply her trade over that distance despite failing to figure in her most recent outing in Deauville.

Her handler is under no illusion about the task at hand, with possible rivals including Dermot Weld’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Tahiyra.

However, Clover has been encouraged by what he has seen on the gallops and is hoping she can hit the frame in her latest big-race objective.

He said: “We’ve got her in three races and at the moment she’s in really good form and we’re looking at going for the Matron. Fingers crossed for a smooth run and there is a good chance she will line up at Leopardstown.

“She’s been terrific for the Rogues Gallery, who have been massive supporters of the yard and it would be nice if she can continue the journey we’ve been on so far.

“It will be nice if we can pick up some Group One black type, that would be terrific, but if she doesn’t then she owes us nothing, she has been an absolute superstar.

“She seems in very good form. It’s very hard to get a Group One, they are obviously very competitive, but she’s been training nicely so hopefully she has a squeak.”

September could prove a big month for the Newmarket-based handler and the Rogues Gallery syndicate as another of their charges, Rogue Lightning, is on course for a step up in class at Doncaster’s St Leger Festival.

The son of Kodiac was placed at Listed level as a juvenile before losing his way slightly, but has been transformed since being gelded and dropping back to the minimum distance, winning his last two starts.

Now up to a rating of 107, Clover is eyeing a run at Listed level in the Betfred Scarbrough Stakes on September 17, while inspired by Live In The Dream’s shock Nunthorpe triumph recently, the Kremlin House trainer has handed the three-year-old a lofty big-race entry for ParisLongchamp later in the autumn.

“He’s a horse we have always liked and the owners have been very patient with him,” continued Clover.

“He lost his way a bit at the back-end of last year and the early part of this year, but gelding him and dropping him back to five furlongs seems to have really helped.

“He is up to 107 now, so it is certainly worth having a crack at stakes company and I would imagine we might look at the Scarbrough Stakes, all being well.

“It makes sense to go back to where he has been victorious and hopefully he can remain in good form and go and run a nice race again at Doncaster.

“I did actually stick him in the Abbaye because everyone saw the Nunthorpe winner (Live In The Dream) was rated 107 and we’ve got the same mark. He’s a really quick horse, so it’s nice to have the option.”

England begin the final countdown to their pivotal World Cup opener against Argentina confronted by a number of injury concerns and suspensions that will shape their selection.

Courtney Lawes, Kyle Sinckler, George Martin, Elliot Daly and Henry Arundell have been receiving treatment while Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola are banned for the Pool D showdown in Marseille.

England enter the match on the back of five defeats in six Tests and head coach Steve Borthwick faces important calls in several key positions, three of which the PA news agency examines here.

Sinckler had been seen as a shoo-in for the number three jersey but a combination of his pectoral injury and the preference for Will Stuart early on in the Summer Nations Series has now placed a giant question mark over the position. England’s scrum has not been as solid as in the Six Nations, with Stuart failing to make the most of his three successive starts, and even if Sinckler is passed fit to face the Pumas, his lack of minutes last month will surely count against him. The final option in the squad is veteran Dan Cole and he at least has a start against Fiji under his belt.

Likely pick: Will Stuart

Alex Mitchell was unfortunate to miss out on selection in the original 33-man squad after injecting tempo into England’s game during his replacement appearances in the Six Nations, but Jack van Poortvliet’s ankle injury has propelled him into contention. The dynamic Northampton half-back was one of the few positives to emerge from a chastening 30-22 defeat by Fiji and if Borthwick wants to broaden the team’s horizons he would be the ideal pick. Danny Care provides similar tempo and would be a lively alternative, while Ben Youngs is the slowest of the trio but is valued for his game management.

Likely pick: Ben Youngs

Entering the build-up to the World Cup it was unthinkable that Freddie Steward’s place in the starting XV could be challenged but that is the prospect facing the towering Leicester Tiger. Recent moments of fallibility under the high ball, combined with his limited contribution to a pedestrian attack, have seen Marcus Smith emerge as a genuine option in the number 15 jersey. Smith’s replacement appearances against Ireland and Fiji emboldened England’s counter-attack and for now the Harlequins fly-half may have found his best route into the team. How he would stand up to a barrage of high balls is the great unknown, however.

Likely pick: Freddie Steward

Mick Appleby’s star juvenile Big Evs will put Nunthorpe disappointment behind him and press on with his sprint campaign.

The Blue Point colt scored at two of the biggest summer meetings when landing the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot and then the Molecomb at Goodwood.

Both contests are restricted to two-year-olds, but his success inspired connections to step markedly up in grade and take on older horses in the Group One Nunthorpe at York’s Ebor meeting.

The bay was a 5-1 chance under Andrea Atzeni when banking a weight allowance for his age, but the race never looked his for the taking as he faded to finish 14th of 16 runners.

Big Evs trotted up sound after the run and was found to be bearing no ill effects, leaving Appleby to conclude that he had simply had a harder race than first thought at Goodwood.

With the horse in good health, there are no plans to cut his season short and he could head next for the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster before an American foray is planned to take aim at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“He’s absolutely fine, he came back fine and we had bloods taken and couldn’t find anything amiss,” Appleby said.

“He trotted up sound, I think it’s just that he had a lot harder race at Goodwood than we thought.

“It was a big ask for a two-year-old against older horses at this time of year, but I think it was more that – he’d just had a hard enough race at Goodwood and it came a couple of weeks too soon for him.

“He’s come out of it well, anyway, so we’ll just dust ourselves down and go again.

“He’ll possibly go to the Flying Childers and then the main aim is the Breeders’ Cup.

“It’s an easy five furlongs, it’s on the turf at Santa Anita and that should suit him so provided it doesn’t hammer down with rain, we’ll head there.”

Wales centre Mason Grady has a tough family act to follow at his first Rugby World Cup.

To gain selection for rugby union’s global spectacular just five months after your 21st birthday is no mean feat.

But Grady’s brother Cory Allen holds World Cup bragging rights, given that he scored a hat-trick of tries on his tournament debut.

It was eight years ago in Cardiff that former centre Allen made a mark, scoring three tries in 21 minutes during Wales’ 54-9 World Cup victory over Uruguay.

Allen, who won six Test caps, played no further part in the tournament, though, after suffering a serious hamstring injury during the second half.

His team-mates that day included current Wales World Cup squad members Liam Williams, Gareth Davies, Tomas Francis and Dan Lydiate.

“He is averaging three tries a game at the World Cup, which is the best of any player at the tournament,” Grady said.

“I have got a lot of catching up to do there.

“Luckily, it was a home World Cup so I went to every game. He only played in the Uruguay game then did his hamstring, so I only watched him for about 55 minutes.

“It was crazy. He didn’t play in any of the warm-up games so we thought ‘unlucky, maybe the next World Cup’, but he then got selected and scored a hat-trick. It was nuts.

“Now he has retired he gives me a lot more advice after games. He will just ring me and tell me what I can do better and what I’ve done well.”

Grady’s family pedigree is an impressive one – and not just on the rugby pitch.

His mother Julie had a 20-year basketball career, representing Wales and the Rhondda Rebels club side, while brother Ashton is also a basketball international and Grady himself featured for Wales Under-16s in the sport.

But rugby soon took centre-stage, with Grady making his Cardiff debut at the age of 17, winning Wales Under-20 honours and then making his senior Wales bow against England during last season’s Guinness Six Nations.

World Cup selection followed as one of four centres alongside George North, Nick Tompkins and Johnny Williams, and at 6ft 5in and more than 17 stones, he offers a considerable physical presence in midfield or on the wing.

Grady added: “It is very surreal. To think I was playing under-20s rugby last year – it’s pretty nuts.

“I take it all in my stride and just take it game by game. We just look forward to what is ahead.

“During the Six Nations I was a bit nervous coming in (to the squad) and trying not to make any mistakes. I am a lot more confident now.”

The Wales players were due to leave Cardiff for France on Sunday and their pool-stage training base of Versailles.

Wales’ opening Pool C fixture is against Fiji in Bordeaux next Sunday. It will be a fifth-successive World Cup for the countries to meet.

Wales then face Portugal in Nice before heading to Lyon for an appointment with Australia. Their final group game sees them meeting Georgia in Nantes on October 7.

Nashwa is set to throw her hat into the ring for next weekend’s Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes following a pleasing workout in Newmarket on Saturday morning.

Having secured her third Group One victory with a dominant performance in the Falmouth at Newmarket in mid-July, John and Thady Gosden’s filly has since finished third in the Nassau at Goodwood and second in the Juddmonte International at York.

She now looks set to take on the boys once more at Leopardstown, with dual Derby hero Auguste Rodin and King Edward VII Stakes winner and King George third King Of Steel among her potential rivals.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Nashwa’s owner Imad Al Sagar, said: “We are positive, she did a nice little bit with Hollie solo on the Limekilns yesterday morning and everyone’s very happy.

“It seems the right spot to go for. She’s come out of York very well and Imad’s excited about going to Leopardstown next weekend.

“She’s in great shape and we’re looking forward to it.”

Ralph Beckett looks set to saddle Lezoo rather than stablemate Kinross in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.

The Kimpton Down handler has his string in excellent form at present, highlighted by his big-race treble last weekend courtesy of Kinross at York, Angel Bleu at Goodwood and Lezoo at Newmarket.

Lezoo notched her first victory since landing last season’s Cheveley Park in the Listed Hopeful Stakes on the July Course and is being readied for a return to Group One level on Merseyside.

The prolific Kinross also has the option of heading for Haydock following his City of York Stakes success, but Beckett expects conditions to be against him.

“Lezoo will go to Haydock for the Sprint Cup as it doesn’t matter what the ground is. I don’t know who will ride her yet and we will find that out in the coming days,” said the trainer.

“It depends on the weather for Kinross as he won’t run unless it is good or softer. I’m not going to run him over six furlongs on quick ground at Haydock Park as that won’t play to his strengths.

“My best guess is that he won’t run, but we will probably leave him in on Monday.”

Reflecting on Lezoo’s recent return to winning ways, Beckett added: “It was nice to see because when they dance as many dances as she did last year, it is tough to get them to do it again. 

“Things then didn’t go well in the spring and mid-summer. Timeform thought she ran to a mark of 110 and that is good whatever way you look at it. To make her a Stakes winner at three was good as well. 

“I don’t know how it will pan out now but having won a Listed race, it makes sense to go back to a Group One on a track that will play to the strengths of her, and we will go from there.

“She has never been a good work filly. She has never won a gallop. She has never gone through and worked really well, so you are going through all the time having to second guess her. 

“If we get beat, we get beat, but it is more that this is the right race for her. If she was to go and finish in the first four, that would be great as well.”

Sir Mo Farah bade farewell to racing in London after finishing fourth in his penultimate race at the Big Half on Sunday.

Farah’s last results saw him finish eighth in the Great Manchester Run 10K in May and ninth in the London Marathon the previous month.

The Big Half was Farah’s last race in London, with the final race of his career taking place at the Great North Run on Tyneside next weekend.

Jack Rowe came first in the elite men’s race with a time of 01:01:08, narrowly edging out fellow Briton Mahamed Mahamed who finished in 01:01:16.

Andrew Butchart was next to cross the line before Farah finished with a time of 01:02:43.

Calli Thackery finished first in the women’s elite race, with David Weir earning the top spot in the wheelchair race.

Issy Wong has been backed to return to her best with the help of England bowling coach Matt Mason after struggling on her first international appearance of the summer.

Wong was recalled by England skipper Heather Knight for Saturday’s second T20 in the three-match series with Sri Lanka at Chelmsford and while she contributed towards a 33-run partnership with Charlie Dean, she experienced difficulties with the ball.

Three no-balls were sent down during Wong’s first over and she finished with figures of nought for 24 off two overs with Sri Lanka chasing down a target of 105 with 40 deliveries to spare.

Knight, after facing several questions post-match about the selection of the 21-year-old, said: “Matt Mason is working pretty closely with Issy around getting her back to where we know she can be.

“We wanted to get a bit of context around where she is at and Issy wanted some context around where she is at in terms of us playing her.

“She had a couple of really good training sessions and felt in a really good place but she is learning. She has obviously struggled for rhythm this summer and my role is to keep backing her.

“We know what sort of cricketer she can be, which is why we have backed her when she has been struggling.

“Yeah, a tough day and sometimes when you are exposed to it in that pressure situation it can make it tough, but she is a pretty resilient character. She is a positive person so I don’t think it will affect her too much.”

Wong has been conspicuous by her absence all summer throughout an enthralling Women’s Ashes where she sat out all seven matches of the multi-format series.

She initially burst onto the international scene last summer following an exciting 12 months where she caught the eye in the 2021 edition of The Hundred before starring in the Women’s Big Bash later that year.

It led to key roles in England’s unsuccessful pursuit of gold at the home Commonwealth Games along with appearances in all formats for her country during 2022, but despite taking a hat-trick in the inaugural Women’s Premier League in India, she has largely carried the drinks in recent months.

Wong was even used sparingly by Birmingham Phoenix during The Hundred in August and her showing at Chelmsford highlighted her struggles after she overstepped three times during a 10-ball first over while a surprise return into the attack later resulted in a second over littered with poor deliveries.

Knight, who hinted at Wong receiving unhelpful advice on the domestic scene, revealed England’s plan of action for the fast bowler following Saturday’s humbling defeat in Essex.

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“She has been given five balls at a time in The Hundred and hasn’t had a chance to come back from spells. I guess that’s probably put a lot of pressure on her starting and how she starts,” Knight pointed out.

“As a captain, I am always someone that wants to back players and bring them in. We played her to get some context over where she is at and I wanted to bowl her again.

“I think she has been struggling a little bit for rhythm all summer and then she’s been trying a few things, listening to a lot of different voices, which has probably led to her run-up issues because she didn’t really have those earlier in the summer.

“Issy does have a clear plan over the next month about what she will do with Matt Mason, who is an outstanding bowling coach. They will work very closely to try get Issy to a place where she needs to be.”

Ange Postecoglou believes Brennan Johnson can take a step up after completing a £45million move to Tottenham before Friday’s transfer deadline.

Spurs have reinvested some of the money received from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane on the 22-year-old Wales international, who scored eight goals and provided three assists to help Nottingham Forest avoid relegation last season.

Johnson was not registered in time to feature in Saturday’s 5-2 thrashing of Burnley at Turf Moor, but his arrival should add another dimension to a Tottenham side who were inspired by Son Heung-min’s hat-trick and could have scored even more in an exciting attacking display.

“He’s just another exciting young player. He’s a real threat in the front third, he’s different from what we’ve already got, he’s young and ambitious,” Postecoglou said. “It’s no secret that’s the model for me.

“It’s just as much about the person as well as the footballer, and looking at him he’s going to fit in really well with this group. He’s ambitious and hungry and wants to take his game to the next level.

“The technical and the physical attributes he has, he should fit in really well.”

Johnson was the ninth signing of a busy window for Tottenham, who spent more than £200million to reshape the squad in Postecoglou’s style.

But the Australian said it was just the start and that there is more work that he wants to do in the market in future windows.

“When you look at the team we have now, we virtually changed half the starting line up, the way we train, the way we coach,” he said. “The rebuild was never going to be one window.”

Spurs had fallen behind to an early Lyle Foster strike at Burnley but Son levelled in the 16th minute and they ruthlessly punished defensive mistakes from the hosts as Cristian Romero got a second in first-half stoppage time and James Maddison added a third early in the second half.

Son then scored twice in four minutes just after the hour to complete his hat-trick before Spurs took their foot off the pedal, with Josh Brownhill getting a stoppage-time consolation for the Clarets.

The defeat means Burnley have suffered three consecutive home defeats to begin life back in the top flight, conceding 11 goals in losses to Manchester City, Aston Villa and Spurs.

Vincent Kompany will now use the international break to pick the bones out of what has gone wrong for his side, but remains bullish that their methods will come good.

“During my career I’ve not just been a good leader or captain because of the good times,” the four-time Premier League winner said.

“It is easy to be a good captain or leader then, it is at these times I feel most confident in what you need to do to get better. You need to analyse what needs to get better and decide what the next step is.

“We will do everything we can to avoid defeat but it is at these moments you learn most about your team’s character.”