Jack Draper fashioning a US Open challenge as Anna Wintour watches on

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has a good eye for spotting tennis talent on court.

A regular in the stands for Roger Federer and Serena Williams at the peak of their powers, she would also watch Andy Murray in his pomp on occasions.

It was perhaps apt that on Monday evening she was there to watch the player taking over the baton of British tennis from Murray — at least on the men's side — in Jack Draper.

If Draper was fazed by having Wintour in his box, sat next to his brother Ben, also his agent, it did not show during a straight-sets demolition of Tomas Machac.

"It was amazing to have her here," said the 22-year-old British No1. "I met her for the first time the other day and she seemed really lovely. She said to me how much she loves tennis.

"I don't know too much about my fashion yet, but she was saying how much she loves coming to the US Open, and hopefully she will be here for me further on in the tournament."

Draper is already understandably raising eyebrows in both the fashion and tennis worlds. Having seemingly put to rest the injury gremlins which had curtailed his rise up the world order and improved his fitness in the heat, Draper has marked himself out as a Grand Slam champion of the future.

And yet, prior to this point, he has sometimes struggled on the biggest stage.

By his own admission, he was poor at the French Open, which led to a re-think with his team in his approach to the game which has been far more aggressive since.

At Wimbledon, it could be argued he was a tad too aggressive, but he seems to have fine-tuned that during this American hard-court swing.

With his game now in good order under coach James Trotman, a reignition of the Murray comparison is inevitable.

And what is impressive is that he seems unbothered about the comparisons to Murray and being made to carry the torch for men's British tennis at the first Slam with the former world No1 in retirement.

Murray has long been a close confidant of Draper. And after his latest win in New York, Draper said: "I miss Andy. What an unbelievable career the guy's had. I miss him in the changing rooms. Andy's a legend, so if I have half the career Andy's had, I'll be a happy man."

One could argue he is unfussed by the comparisons, partly because of an awareness of how good his game is with such big weapons from the back of the court in his serve, forehand and backhand.

Encouragingly, the signs are there that there is room for improvement in all facets of his game. Crucially, though, he enjoys playing to a big crowd.

"I love playing on the big stage, but I have had to control my emotions," he said. "But I still feel like, if I need to, I can improve my level a lot more. In some of the matches, my level is dropping because I lose concentration.

"There's still a long way for me to go and, as the challenge gets higher and I play even better players, hopefully my level will increase."

Draper has been able to pull off the big wins in the past, such as his dismantling of Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's at the start of the summer, but has often then struggled for consistency in tournaments.

Partly that has been down to injury and his fitness, but fitness trainer Steve Kotze has turned him into a far more robust player than the one Draper bemoaned was made of glass.

Again, it had echoes of Murray in his infancy, when his body would break down in matches before working tirelessly to address the issues.

Draper, who plays Australian world No10 Alex de Minaur on Wednesday, knows he has some way to go to emulate the feats of the three-time Grand Slam champion.

But the fact he is battling for a place in a Major semi-final is a promising start.