by Jack Draper has had a difficult draw at the Paris Masters, but Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will be happy with their respective paths to a possible place in the final.
The British number 1, who is currently competing at the Vienna Open in Austria, will face Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals on Saturday.
But in the back of his mind, the 22-year-old may be wondering when the luck of the draw will decide in his favor. Ahead of next week’s tournament in Paris, the Englishman has been given the difficult task of reaching the finals.
Draper is unseeded and will therefore have to defeat Jiri Lehecka in the first round, with the Czech player currently ranked 28th in the world.
The couple also used to. Lehecka emerged victorious in a hard-fought final at the Adelaide International earlier this year, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Australia.
And Draper will be out for revenge when he travels to Paris as the world number 18 has his sights set on cracking the top 10 of the ATP rankings.
Beating Lehecka will be a big challenge in itself. However, should he progress, the youngster may have even more difficult tasks ahead of him. A realistic route to the final could see him face Taylor Fritz in round two, followed by a clash with Australian Alex de Minaur.
If he makes it past some of his top 20 peers, Draper would likely face Sinner – and on his current form, the world No.1 would be the favorite to progress.
Draper would probably still have to beat Alexander Zverev to get to the final, where Alcaraz could be waiting for him.
Assuming Sinner and Alcaraz make it to the final unscathed, the two now know that they can only meet at the showpiece event at the Bercy Arena.
While the 23-year-old Sinner boasts an incredible 91 percent win rate of his games in 2024, he has lost all three of his last meetings with the 21-year-old Alcaraz. Tennis fans would relish the opportunity to see both of them in action.
But Draper has a say in whether he will deny them another match on the ATP Tour if he reaches the quarterfinals and beats Sinner.
If there is something positive for the Brit, it is that he doesn’t have to face Novak Djokovic too. The Serb announced he was pulling out of the race this week due to injury, but Draper will still have a lot of work to do in France.
