Jack Draper wanted to go one stage further at this year’s Adelaide International and has now achieved that goal by reaching the final of the Australian Open’s warm-up event, the seasons’ first major championships which starts on Saturday.
Alexander’s a great player and someone who’s a very unorthodox player. It’s always tricky to play against him Jack Draper
The 22-year-old British No.4, last year’s semi-finalist, will be playing in the second final of his young career after beating the Kazakh Alexander Bublik for that place.
He came through after 96-minutes, 7-6(2) 6-4 as he continued his excellent run this week which included eliminating the top seed Tommy Paul in the last eight.
He reached the Sofia Open final last November when the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino denied him his first career trophy.
Draper showed his intention from the start storming into a 2-0 lead but Bublik, known as ‘The Magician’ as a result of his unconventional but entertaining approach to the game, worked his way back, He was broken for a second time but again kept himself in the match but in the eventual tie-break, he was outpowered by the young Brit collecting just two points.
The Kazakh used every trick in the book, drop shots, lobs, an under-arm serve to keep Draper on his toes in the second set, even using his racket handle to win one point.
But despite all his trickery, Draper was able to retain his concentration and make the most of the errors which also blighted his opponent’s game.
“It was a really tricky match,” said Draper. “Alexander’s a great player and someone who’s a very unorthodox player. It’s always tricky to play against him.
“He’s actually a really good guy and a good friend as well. We have a lot of fun when we’re competing against each other. I was really happy that I was able to come through and get the win today and be in another final.”
There he will face the Czech Jiri Lehecka who earlier, had dominated the third seed Sebastian Korda 6-2 6-1, ousting the American who had been showing some excellent form in his previous two matches.
Jiri Lehecka is chasing the same goal
(Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)
Lehecka, the seventh seed, like Draper, signalled his intentions from the start and never let Korda settle as he swept hi aside in 72-minutes.
Korda, son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda, was unable to mount any real resistance as the 22-year-old surged into only his second career final.
“I’m a bit surprised that it went this well,” Lehecka said. “But I did all I could to make it happen.
“I’m happy to be looking at a place in the final. I did good work in the off-season and it’s working well.
“But there is one more step so we will see tomorrow,” added the Czech player, whose ranking will improve to a career-best 26.
Should Draper emerge as this year’s Adelaide champion, his ranking should lift him into the top 50.
As a final it should be more than intriguing with two powerful young players keen to land their first title.,
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