by Jack Draper has reached the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and now faces a showdown with the highly talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Draper, seeded seventh in Austria, defeated Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and recovered from losing the first set of the tournament to beat his Czech opponent twice while getting through the deciding set .
The British number 1 – who secured his first ATP Tour title this summer by winning the Stuttgart Open – will face sixth seed Musetti in the semi-finals on Saturday after the Wimbledon semi-finalist beat top seed Alexander Zverev 2-6, 7:6 defeated (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.
After his win over Machac, Draper said: “The first set was obviously very physical – it’s always hard playing against Tomas, he’s so solid on the floor. I felt like I had chances in the second set. To be honest, it was more of a mental battle.
“I felt like my energy level was down a little bit and my decision making was up and down a little bit. I knew I had to reboot. At this level, you can’t get away with staying in this situation for too long.”
“I’m really proud of the way I came through. I didn’t feel my best, but I fought hard and did a great job getting through it.”
Draper: I know I still have improvements to make
Draper beat Machac in the second game of the match en route to winning the first set, but Machac was able to go on and restore parity after defeating the Brit 3-2 in the second set.
Draper then took a 5-0 lead in the decider and while Machac avoided the bagel, his higher-ranked opponent ended the game with an ace in his next service game.
The Brit added after reaching his eighth Tour semi-final and first since the US Open in September: “I’m constantly improving and working really hard to become a better and more consistent player.”
“I’m really happy with my level. I know I still have a lot of improvements to make, but I’m very happy with where I’m at right now and I’ll keep working hard.”
Story from the tape
Draper keeps climbing
Draper claimed his first ATP Tour title in Stuttgart earlier this year, becoming the 19th man to become British No. 1 in the Open Era. He made further headlines after defeating Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s, then reached the semi-finals of the US Open, where he was defeated by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
He started the year at No. 61 and is already at No. 17 in the live rankings, with a semifinal appearance looming and the Paris Masters looming where he could break new ground.
In the other two quarter-finals in Vienna, second seed Alex de Minaur will face Jakub Mensik and Karen Khachanov will face Matteo Berrettini.
British women’s No. 1 Katie Boulter earlier reached the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1, 6-2 in just 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
At the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Stefanos Tsitsipas lost 7:6 (7:5), 6:3 Arthur Filsa result that seriously dents the Greek player’s hopes of making it to the ATP Finals in Turin next month.
Tsitsipas is currently 12th in the Race to Turin, with the top eight progressing to the final tournament November 10-17.
Fils has now won 13 consecutive games at this level, backed up by title runs in Hamburg and Tokyo this year.
“I think I served pretty well,” said Fils, who didn’t get a break point. “I was very focused. I missed a crazy set point, but I’m really happy with how I handled the tiebreak and I think I played pretty well in the second set too.”
“I found a way to refocus [after missing the first two set points]and I think I did pretty well, so I’m happy.”
What can you expect from Sky Sports Tennis?
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (until October 27th)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (until October 27th)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (until October 27)
- Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (until October 27th)
- Hong Kong Tennis Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Jiangxi Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Merida Open Akron – WTA 250 (October 28th – November 3rd)
- Rolex Paris Masters – ATP 1000 (October 28th – November 3rd)
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