Jack Draper ‘celebrated’ the news that he will be officially confirmed as Britain’s No.1 player on Monday by defeating the defending champion, Frances Tiafoe to reach the semi-finals of the Boss Open in Stuttgart.
I’m really happy with the way I served and the way I played. It was a really high-quality match. Jack Draper
Currently world ranked 40 and seeded six at the ATP 250 event, he is making the most of his time on grass where he is not defending any points having missed last year’s grass court swing with a shoulder injury.
The 22-year-old Brit defeated the fourth seeded, 28th ranked American 5-7 6-4 7-6(1) to reach the last four where another American awaits, Brandon Nakashima, who walked into the semis when German hopes, Jan-Lennard Struff, pulled out before the match with some unnamed illness.
Draper’s victory is expected to lift him up seven places to 33 in world terms on Monday ahead of Cameron Norrie who was beaten in the last 16 of a Challenger event in Nottingham last Thursday.
It will be Drapers sixth ATP Tour semi-final and he will be aiming to reach the third final of his career, his last appearance being a title match at the Adelaide International in January following last year’s Sofia Open.
Draper served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but failed to convert a match point as Tiafoe broke to keep his hopes alive but that proved short-lived against the Brit who was in superb serving form, finishing the match with 31 aces.
“I’m incredibly happy,” Draper said following his two-hour, 13-minute battle. “My last three (deciding) tie-breaks, I lost them all, so to come through today was really amazing and I’m really proud of my efforts.
“I’m really happy with the way I served and the way I played. It was a really high-quality match.”
Should Draper pick up the first title of his career, he could well be seeded for this year’s Championships which would be good news for home hopes.
The other semi-final is an all-Italian affair between the fifth seeded Lorenzo Musetti and two-time former champion Matteo Berrettinin after the latter was handed his place in the last four when the third seeded from Kazakhstan Alexander Bublik retired with the score line at 4-6 6-1 1-0 while the former took out Australia’s James Duckworth 6-4 7-5.
