Jack Draper has reached the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and will next face off against the very talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Draper, the seventh seed in Austria, defeated Tomas Mattak 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to recover from losing his first set in the tournament, breaking his Czech opponent twice in the deciding set.
The British No. 1 – who claimed his first ATP Tour title this summer when he won the Stuttgart Open – will play sixth seed Musetti in the semi-finals on Saturday after the Wimbledon semi-finalist beat top seed Alexander Zverev. 2-6 and 7-6. 7-5) 6-4.
Draper has a 2-0 winning record over Musetti, having defeated the Italian at the ATP Next Generation Finals in 2022 and then in Sofia last year.
Speaking after his win over Mattak, Draper said: “Obviously the first set was really physical – it’s always difficult to play against Thomas, he’s so strong off the ground. I felt like I had chances in the second set. To be honest, it was.” More than a mental battle.
“I felt like my energy was down a little bit, and my decision-making was a little up and down. I knew I had to reset myself. At this level, you can’t escape spending too much time in that situation.”
“I’m really proud of the way I’m progressing. I didn’t feel at my best but I competed hard and did a great job to get to this level.”
Erste Bank Open quarterfinals
Jack Draper defeated Tomas Machak 6-3, 3-6 6-1 Lorenzo Musetti defeated Alexander Zverev 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 Karen Khachanov defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-1 6-4 Alex de Minaur defeated Jacob Mincic 6-7 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 Draper: I know I still have to make improvements
Draper broke Machak in the second game of the match en route to winning the first set, only for Machak to go on and restore parity after breaking the Briton 3-2 in the second set.
Draper then took a 5-0 lead in the deciding set, and while Mattak prevented a knockdown, his higher-ranked opponent ended the match with an ace on his next service game.
After reaching his eighth semi-final on tour and first since the US Open in September, the Briton added: “I’m improving all the time, working hard to become a better and more consistent player.
Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may use cookies and other technology. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to only allow these cookies once. You can change your settings at any time via the privacy options. Unfortunately, we are unable to verify whether you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content, you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only. Enable cookies Allow cookies once
“I’m really happy with my level. I know I still have to make a lot of improvements, but I’m really happy with where I’m at now and I’ll keep working hard.”
The tale of Tape Draper continues to rise
Draper lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Stuttgart earlier this year and subsequently became the 19th man to become the British No. 1 player in the Open Era. He made more headlines after beating Carlos Alcaraz in Queens and then reached the US Open semi-finals where he was undone by world number one Jannik Sinner.
He started the year ranked No. 61 and is already up to No. 17 in the live rankings with semi-final appearances coming up and the upcoming Paris Masters, which could see him break new ground.
The other two quarter-final matches in Vienna see second seeds Alex de Minaur take on Jakub Mencic and Karen Khachanov take on Matteo Berrettini.
Britain’s Katie Poulter, the women’s top seed, reached the semifinals earlier at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, beating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.
Please use Chrome browser for an easily accessible video player
Highlights of Katie Poulter’s quarter-final win over Bianca Andreescu at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo
At the Swiss Indoor Championships in Basel, Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Arthur Fels 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, a result that seriously affected the Greek player’s hopes of reaching the ATP Finals next month in Turin.
Tsitsipas currently sits in 12th place in the Race to Turin, with the top eight qualifying for the season-ending championship from 10-17 November.
The son has won 13 straight matches at this level, buoyed by title runs in Hamburg and Tokyo this year.
“I think I served well,” said Fels, who did not face a break point. “I was very focused. I missed a crazy set point, but I’m very happy with the way I handled the tiebreak and I think I played well in the second set as well.
“I found a way to refocus [after missing the first two set points]”I think I did it well, so I’m happy.”
Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may use cookies and other technology. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to only allow these cookies once. You can change your settings at any time via the privacy options. Unfortunately, we are unable to verify whether you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content, you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only. Enable cookies Allow cookies once
Quarter-finals of the Swiss indoor championship
Arthur Fels defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 Ben Shelton defeated Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 Holger Röhn defeated David Goffin 6-2 6-4 Giovanni Mbeche Pericard Denis Shapovalov 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 7-6 (7-3) What’s new 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 Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3) Jiangxi Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3) Championship Merida Open Akron – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3) Rolex Paris Masters – ATP 1000 (October 28 – November 3)
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 more than 50 per cent of live sporting events this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
