Jack Draper may be the pride of Britain and his family right now thanks to his heroics at the US Open – but the Draper clan also has another big name when it comes to sport in their midst – Jack’s father, Roger.

Draper Jr has been making waves in New York after a series of sterling performances have seen him clinch a place in the US Open semi-final. The 22-year-old battled past Alex de Minaur on Wednesday (September 4th) to set up a huge clash with world No.1 Jannik Sinner on Friday as he bids to reach the final.

While Draper has been the talk of the tennis world by becoming the first British man to reach the last four in the competition since Andy Murray’s victory in the slam in 2012, it appears Draper’s father has been instrumental in UK sport behind the scenes. Roger Draper is perhaps best known for his time as chief executive of Sport England and as the head of the Lawn Tennis Association. However, his influence goes much deeper.

During his tenure at Sport England, Draper had the responsibility of reporting to Parliament through the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. He also led a major review and reorganisation of the £450m spent on sport in the UK at the time.

This included helping to oversee completion of sporting institutes and facilities. He also carried out a review of how a number of sports were governed from athletics, hockey, rugby league, golf, cricket and boxing.

However, his most famous contributions have been his involvment in London’s successful 2012 Olympic bid, and the building of Wembley Stadium as we now know it. Draper then joined the LTA in 2006, and consequently published his strategy to re-energise British tennis.

His changes included a complete restructure of the organisation, a new commercial ideology and a meticulous review and rebuild of all tennis related events. During his time at the LTA, Draper Sr helped turnover grow by 45% and even oversaw an increase in commercial revenues.

Remarkably, British tennis membership grew by 500% and the number of juniors playing competitive tennis also swelled in his time as head of the association.

Draper was also responsible for introducing a new mini tennis programme and a nationwide talent swoop in order to secure long-term success for the UK. During this period, Britain won the Junior Davis Cup for the first time, while a number of Brit juniors won grand slam singles and doubles titles, with success culminating when, in 2013, Andy Murray became the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.

Draper’s time in charge, however, was criticised for failing to increase levels of participation in adults and for reports around his annual salary, said to be worth around £640,000. The LTA revealed in December 2012 that Draper received a basic wage of £394,000, as well as a bonus of £201,000 and a pension contribution of £45,000. Sport England chief executive Jennie Price told the Press Association Sport: “Tennis has not performed well in terms of participation”.

His role at LTA came to an end in March 2013, when he announced that he would leave the position. Speaking after stepping down from the role, Draper said: “It has been a huge honour to serve the sport that I love so much and to play my part in leading British tennis.”

Draper also spent time with the Warrington Wolves Rugby League team. It was there where he led a programme of stadium improvements, helped rebrand the club and launch a membership scheme.

The club’s 2016 season, following Drapers’ influence, was one of the most successful in the their history. They went on to win the League Leaders Shield, reached the Challenge Cup Final and made the Super League Grand Final.

In 2017, Draper moved to a role as Chief Commercial Officer at the Rugby Football League and Executive Director of Super League. This period saw an increase in the player salary cap and record attendances at the Super League Grand Final.

Jack Draper’s father’s successful shadow may hang heavy over him as he now looks ahead to the biggest match of his career. However, in New York come Friday he will be hoping he can emulate, and perhaps even surpass, his dad’s achievements and also claim a lasting impact on Sport in the UK.