Jack Draper continued to build on his excellent breakout season by producing another stellar performance to reach the biggest final of his career at the Vienna Open. In a tough, physical contest between two talented 22 year-olds in the best form of their careers, Draper demonstrated his resilience by defeating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-2, 6-4 to advance.
Having clinched his first ATP title in June on the grass courts of the Stuttgart Open, an ATP 250 event, Draper will play for his first ATP 500 title on Sunday against either Karen Khachanov or Alex de Minaur, the second seed. Regardless of the outcome, Draper will break into the top 15 for the first time in his career after this week.
“I suppose it’s my biggest final yet,” said Draper. “I’ve been in 250 finals, obviously I’d say a grand slam semis is probably a bigger match than tomorrow but at the same time, to be in the final of a 500 after all the work that I’ve put in this year and after the season I’ve had, I’m incredibly grateful and really happy to be in this situation.”
Draper, the seventh seed, had marched through his section of the draw with impressive conviction to set up his first meeting with a higher-ranked opponent in Musetti, the sixth seed. Musetti, who is just three months younger than Draper and ranked only one place higher than him in the rankings at No 17, has been excellent in recent months himself, reaching his first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon and winning an Olympic singles bronze medal. His comeback win over the world No 3, Alexander Zverev, on Friday underlined his classy form.
But Draper put the Italian under immense pressure from the beginning, constantly taking the initiative with his heavy forehand while his excellent defence frustrated Musetti. While Draper’s first serve has been inconsistent at times this year, his success in Vienna has been driven by his brilliant serving throughout the tournament. Draper served extremely well again as he established a set and break lead.
The 69-minute second set, however, could have easily produced a different result. Musetti gradually began to find his range on his forehand, forcing Draper into lengthy, attritional rallies and putting him under pressure in almost every one of his service games.
Just as it seemed that the momentum had shifted, with Musetti breaking serve for 4-4 against an increasingly fatigued Draper, Musetti produced an error-strewn service game to hand over the break again. Draper recovered brilliantly, serving out the match without hesitation to seal one of the biggest wins of his flourishing career.
This has been a monumental year for Draper as he has addressed the physical issues that sidelined him for so much of his youth and enjoyed his first deep runs at the highest level. His run to his first grand slam semi-final at the US Open has only increased his confidence and he is playing some of his best tennis in the final weeks of the season. On Sunday, he will try to take another significant step forward.
Earlier, Katie Boulter’s run at the WTA Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo came to an end on Saturday after she was beaten in straight sets by Sofia Kenin in the semi-finals.
The British women’s No 1 missed the chance to reach her third WTA Tour final of the year following a 6-4, 6-4 loss to the 2020 Australian Open champion, who will face China’s Zheng Qinwen in the final.
Kenin broke in the fifth and seventh games of the opener before Boulter pulled one break back and saved three set points, only for the American to serve out the set at the second attempt.
Boulter failed to convert any of her four break points in the sixth game of the second set, and Kenin pounced to break her opponent in the next game. Kenin, who beat Emma Raducanu in the first round at last month’s US Open, then held her nerve to wrap up victory in one hour and 29 minutes.
Zheng, the Olympic champion and No 1 seed in Tokyo, defeated Diana Shnaider 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second semi-final. Zheng raced into a 4-0 lead with two breaks in quick succession, but dropped her level to allow her Russian opponent a way back into the first set.
Shnaider won three straight games to leave the opening set at 4-3, defended three set points to hold under pressure for 5-4 and then saved another to break Zheng’s serve for a second time and level at 5-5. Zheng rallied to win the tie-break, taking three consecutive points to win it 7-5.
Early in the second set, Zheng’s first-serve percentage dropped and Shnaider broke for 2-1, but the top seed broke right back and followed up with another for a 4-2 lead which she would not relinquish.
