Jack Draper: British No. 1 reaches first ATP 500 final at Erste Bank Open in Vienna

Jack Draper’s remarkable season reached another high point on Saturday when he reached his first ATP 500 final at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The British No. 1, benefiting from a month-long break before the tournament, produced another brilliant performance, defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 48 minutes.

The 22-year-old, who lost in straight sets to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the US Open semifinals last month, reached his fourth tour-level final and is now on his way to recovering from his win in the US to secure a second career title for Stuttgart this summer.

Draper, who will play the winner of the match between Australian second seed Alex de Minaur and Karen Khachanov, said Sky Sports: “I thought the first sentence was really at a high level from my point of view.”

“Lorenzo is a really tough competitor and the second set was up and down, some nerves and some difficult moments. Luckily I made it in the end.”

“I guess it’s my biggest final yet. Being in the 500 final after my season makes me incredibly grateful.”

After breaking Musetti’s serve in the opening game, Draper recovered from his setback to win four games in a row and take the first set.

Musetti, a Wimbledon semifinalist this year, dropped his serve again at the start of the second round.

Draper, who had won the last two games, survived two grueling service games, but Musetti’s pressure made it clear that he leveled the score at 4-4.

However, thanks to a miserable serving game from Musetti, the momentum dramatically swung back in Draper’s favor.

A visibly exhausted Draper took a medical timeout at 5-4, but came back to take the win and reach his first final at the ATP 500 level.

Story from the tape

Draper continues to climb the rankings

The Brit has now overtaken Musetti in the ATP rankings and reached his career best of 15th place.

British players reach Vienna final

Draper is the fourth British player to reach the final in Vienna, after Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and two-time winner Andy Murray.

Draper’s remarkable 12 months

Draper reached his first ATP Tour final in Sofia last November, where he narrowly lost to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-3.

He picked up where he left off at the start of 2024 – defeating three top-40 players and reaching his second ATP final in Adelaide, but finishing second again, this time to Jiri Lehecka.

Draper reached his third ATP final in June – this time on grass in Stuttgart – and after victories over Frances Tiafoe, Marcos Giron and Brandon Nakashima, he defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini and achieved third luck.

The 22-year-old fought back from a set down and beat the Italian 3:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:4.

The win also meant he overtook Cameron Norrie to become the 19th man to be British No.1 in the Open Era.

At the Queen’s Club he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the second round and then reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, where he faced world number 1 Jannik Sinner before losing 7-5 and 7 :6 eliminated (7-3) 6-2.

How many hours of live tennis?

From 4am on October 28th to 4pm on October 31st, you can watch back-to-back LIVE TENNIS on Sky Sports Tennis for a total of 84 hours of non-stop action.

What can you expect from Sky Sports Tennis?

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)
WTA Finals Riyadh – (November 2-9)
Belgrade Open – ATP 250 (November 3-9)
Moselle Open, Metz – ATP 250 (November 3rd – 9th)
Nitto ATP Finals, Turin – (November 10-17)

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sport at no additional cost this year. Find out more here.