Tommy Paul expressed a desire to avenge his defeat at the hands of Jack Draper in the second round of last year’s Adelaide International, when he met the Briton at this year’s edition and, as the top seed, that task didn’t seem insurmountable when they met in the quarter finals.
I played in Adelaide last year and made the semi-finals. I’m really happy to be back and hopefully I can go a bit further this week. Jack Draper
Draper, who went on to reach the semis 12 months ago, proved to be a tougher nut to crack as the American failed in his objective and suffered a worse defeat than last year, this time losing 6-1 6-4 in just 80-minutes.
The 22-year-old British No.4 next faces eighth seed Alexander Bublik, the Kazak who overcame Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5, the fourth seed, after a two-hour, 32-minute battle, for a place in the final,
Draper said of his win: “It’s always amazing to play in front of a big crowd, especially in front of a great player like Tommy. I played in Adelaide last year and made the semi-finals. I’m really happy to be back and hopefully I can go a bit further this week.”
He added: “I knew I had to start well, because I played a three-hour, 40-minute match on the hard court yesterday, in the sun, so I had to work really hard for that first set. I felt really great.
“I came out strong and then the second set was a bit of a battle. It’s always going to be that way if someone who is a good competitor starts coming back into the match. I stayed strong and luckily I was able to get it in the end.”
The second seed was also ousted, namely Chile’s Nicolas Jarry who went down to the Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4 7-5 and will face Sebastian Korda for a place in the final, the American having defeated the Aussie wildcard Chrstopher O’Connell 6-4 6-4.
Korda, who came within a point of defeating Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, has made it clear he wants to go all the way this year.
He clinched his place in the semi-finals at his fourth attempt and said: “I didn’t play badly on the match points, he raised his game.
“I wish there were more weeks here in Adelaide,” the 23-year-old added. “It’s a super easy tournament – you just walk across the bridge [from the players’ hotel].”
Sebastian Korda plays a back hand
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
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