Jack Draper destroys Tomas Machac with stunning display to move closer to US Open glory

Draper had gone into the clash with Tomas Machac after victories over Zhang Zhizhen, Facundo Diaz and Carlos Alcaraz conquerer Botic van de Zandschulp.

This, however, was arguably his best display to date - with the young Briton simply too much for his opponent at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Before the clash, Tim Henman had urged Draper to retain focus. There's no point letting hype and excitement get to you if you can't back it up.

Yet Draper is a special talent and looked in the mood right from the off, producing the sort of tennis that has made him the heir to Murray's throne.

Initially, there was little to choose between the two men. Yet that all changed in the seventh game of the first set, with Draper managing to get a crucial break to swing the pendulum his way.

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He was unstoppable from that point on, however, winning the final two games to secure the opener and take a giant step towards the last eight in the process.

Some unforced errors from Machac helped, of course, but Draper was relentless and capitalised on any error his opponent was making.

With his tail up, the Sutton-born star was in the ascendancy. He broke Machac in the second game of the second set to continue his charge, leaving his opponent looking crushed in the process.

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"Tomas Machac looks like his belief has slightly evaporated. He's kind of lost that swagger he came onto court with," said Annabel Croft, who was commentating for the BBC.

There did look, briefly, as though Machac would be able to break back.

Yet he spurned a break point to the benefit of Draper, who managed to survive the scare before charging on to win the second set.

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Machac went into the third with a point to prove.

Having underwhelmed throughout the clash, he needed to up the ante considerably in order to turn the showdown around.

Yet it was a familiar story at the start of the third set, with Draper breaking his his opponent'twice before going on to see out the clash with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win.

Greatness, it seems, could lie in wait.

This was a statement win from Draper, one that sends a message to the rest of the players left in the competition.

With Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz already out, the stars could just be aligning - 12 years on from the US Open win that set Murray on his path to legendary status.