Jack Draper marched into the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and will next face a showdown with highly-talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Draper, seeded seventh in Austria, beat Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 6-1, recovering from losing his first set of the tournament to break his Czech opponent twice while breezing through the decider.
The British No 1 – who secured his first ATP Tour title this summer when he won the Stuttgart Open – will play sixth seed Musetti in the last four on Saturday after the Wimbledon semi-finalist upset top seed Alexander Zverev 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
Draper has a 2-0 winning record against Musetti, defeating the Italian at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2022 and then in Sofia last year.
Speaking after his win over Machac, Draper said: “The first set was obviously really physical – it is always tough playing Tomas, he is so solid off the ground. I felt I had chances in the second set. To be honest, it was more of a mental battle.
“I felt like my energy dropped a little bit, my decision-making became a little bit up and down. I knew I had to reset. At this level you can’t get away with spending too long in that situation.
“I am really proud of the way I dug in. I didn’t feel my best but I competed hard and did a great job to come through.”
Draper: I know I still have improvements to make
Draper broke Machac in the second game of the match en route to claiming the first set only for Machac to go on and restore parity after breaking the Brit at 3-2 up in the second set.
Draper then raced into 5-0 lead in the decider and while Machac prevented the bagel, his higher-ranked opponent wrapped up the match with an ace in his next service game.
The Brit added, after reaching his eighth Tour-level semi-final and first since the US Open in September: “I am improving all the time, working really hard to become a better player, more consistent.
“I am really happy with my level. I know I still have lots of improvements to make but I am really happy with where I am at right now and I will keep on working hard.”
Tale of the Tape
Draper continues to climb
Draper lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Stuttgart earlier this year, after which he became the 19th man to become British No 1 in the Open Era. He made more headlines after beating Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s and he then reached the US Open semi-finals where he was undone by world No 1 Jannik Sinner.
He began the year ranked No 61 and is already up to No 17 in the live ranking with a semi-final appearance to come and the upcoming Paris Masters, which could see him break new ground.
The other two quarter-finals in Vienna see second seed Alex de Minaur up against Jakub Mensik and Karen Khachanov taking on Matteo Berrettini.
British women’s No 1 Katie Boulter earlier reached the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, beating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1 6-2 in a little over an hour.
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Highlights from Katie Boulter’s quarter-final victory over Bianca Andreescu at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo
Over at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 by Arthur Fils, a result that seriously dents the Greek player’s hopes of making next month’s ATP Finals in Turin.
Tsitsipas currently sits 12th in the Race to Turin, with the top eight to make the end-of-season tournament from November 10-17.
Fils has now won 13 consecutive matches at this level, underpinned by title runs in Hamburg and Tokyo this year.
“I think I served pretty well,” said Fils, who did not face a break point. “I was very focused. I missed a crazy set point, but I am very happy with how I dealt with the tie-break and I think I played pretty good in the second set as well.
“I found a way to refocus [after missing the first two set points], and I think I did that pretty well, so I am happy.”
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (until October 27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (until October 27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (until October 27)
- Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (until October 27)
- Hong Kong Tennis Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Jiangxi Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Merida Open Akron – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Rolex Paris Masters – ATP 1000 (October 28 – November 3)
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