Jack Draper followed up his opening round win with another strong battling performance as he took out American Marcos Giron 6-4 2-6 6-3 to reach the quarter finals of the Boss Open in Stuttgart.
I thought I played a really good first set and then he came back really strong, Jack Draper
The British No.2 who is currently ranked 40, one spot behind Cameron Norrie, is making the most of the grass court swing having missed it last year with an injury.
After defeating Sebastian Ofner on Monday with two tie-break sets, Draper found things tougher in his second against Giron in his second grass-court match of the season.
The opening set went with serve until Draper broke in the fifth game, the 22-year-old going on to take it 6-4 in just 31-minutes.
Giron regrouped in the second set, holding firm in the fifth game when he saved five break points. That proved pivotal for the American then broke Draper to move 5-3 up on his way to levelling the match.
However, Draper raced into a 3-0 lead in the decider and although Giron continued to battle on, the Brit would ultimately clinch a very satisfying three-set victory over the player who had eliminated Andy Murray in the previous round.
“I thought I played a really good first set and then he came back really strong,” Draper said after his win.
“I had a little blip in concentration, but then came out in the third set really strong and was really happy with the way I was able to come through the match.
“He beat Andy Murray yesterday, who is obviously an incredible player, and I knew he had such a high level.
“I had to come out and know he was going to bring that, but I was able to stay with him and come through. I am really happy with the way I mentally performed today.”
Draper goes on to play the defending champion, Frances Tiafoe, in the last eight after the American, seeded 4, beat German Yannick Hanfmann 7-5 7-6(5).
Italian fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti recovered to beat Dominik Koepfer 6-7(9) 7-6(5) 6-3 to also reach the quarter finals, where he will face the Kasak third seed, Alexander Bublik after he came through 6-1 7-6(4) against Serbian wildcard Hamad Medjedovic.
