Jack Draper has reached the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and now faces a clash with top seed Alexander Zverev.
Draper, seeded seventh from Austria, beat Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 6-1, recovering from an opening set loss of the tournament to break his Czech opponent twice en route to the decider.
The British No. 1, who won his first ATP Tour title this summer when he won the Stuttgart Open, will face either Zverev or sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti in the last four on Saturday.
While Draper has a 2-0 winning record against Musetti, having defeated the Italian in the 2022 Next Generation ATP Finals and in Sofia last year, he is yet to face Zverev in his career.
Draper could face Alexander Zverev (pictured) in the Austrian semifinals.
After the win over Machac, Draper said: “The first set was really physical. It’s always tough to play Tomas. He was very solid on the ground. I felt I had a chance in the second set. To be honest, it was more of a mental battle.
“I felt like my energy was down a little bit, my decision-making was going up and down a little bit. I knew I had to reset. At this level, you can’t not spend too much time in that situation.
“I’m really proud of the way I dug in. I didn’t play my best, but I competed hard and did a great job.”
Draper: I know there’s still room for improvement.
Draper broke Machac in the second game of the match en route to claiming the first set to help Machac go on to restore parity after beating the Brit 3-2 in the second set.
Draper took a 5-0 lead in the decider and while Machac blocked a bagel, his higher-ranked opponent sealed the match with an ace in his next service game.
The Englishman reached his eighth tour-level semi-final and first since the US Open in September, adding: “I’m always improving and working really hard to become a better player.
“I’m really happy with my level. I know there’s still a lot of room for improvement, but I’m really happy with where I am now and I’ll keep working hard.”
The remaining two quarterfinals in Vienna will see second seed Alex de Minaur face Jakub Mensik and Karen Khachanov take on Matteo Berrettini.
British women’s singles No. 1 Katie Boulter previously advanced to the semifinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, beating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour. advanced.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from Katie Boulter’s quarterfinal win over Bianca Andreescu at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo
Stefanos Tsitsipas lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to Arthur Pils at the Swiss Indoor in Basel, severely damaging the Greek’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin next month.
Tsitsipas is currently ranked 12th in the Race to Turin and the top eight will advance to the season-ending tournament from November 10-17.
What’s happening on Sky Sports Tennis?
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (until October 27)
- Swiss Indoor, 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)
- Long 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)
