The singles semi-final of the men’s tennis Erste Bank Open (Vienna, Austria, indoor hard, ATP500) was held on the 26th, with 7th seed J. Draper (Great Britain) defeating 6th seed L. Musetti (Italy). He defeated them 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets, advancing to the finals in his first appearance at the tournament and putting himself on the cusp of winning the championship.
>>Kei Nishikori, Draper and others will participate Erste Bank OP combination <<
Draper, who is 22 years old and is ranked 18th in the world, will face Kei Nishikori, who is ranked 141st in the world, in the first round, L. Dardelli (Italy) who is ranked 42nd in the second round, and T. Machács (Czech Republic) who is ranked 27th in the quarterfinals. ) and advanced to the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Musetti, 22 years old and ranked 17th in the world, defeated L. Sonego (Italy), ranked 49th in the world, in the first round, and advanced to the quarterfinals in the second round due to the withdrawal of G. Monfils (France), ranked 52nd in the world. . In the quarterfinals, he defeated top seed A. Zverev (Germany) and advanced to the final four.
In the first set of the semi-finals, Draper suddenly succeeded in breaking in the first game, allowed a break back in the fourth game, but repeated breaks in the fifth and seventh games to take the lead.
In the second set, Draper hit seven service aces and 20 winners, limiting his opponent to one break and getting two breaks in the return game to advance to the final in 1 hour and 48 minutes. .
This is Draper’s first time reaching the finals of an ATP 500 tournament.
ATP, the men’s professional tennis association, posted Draper’s comments on its official website.
“I think the first set was at a really high level for me. Without a doubt, Lorenzo (Musetti) is a tough opponent. I’ve known him since I was very young and it’s always really difficult to play against him. He’s had a great season. The second set was very up and down. There were some long points, and there were definitely tense and difficult moments, but he kept fighting and kept going. I’m really proud of what I was able to do in the end.”
The victorious Draper will face world No. 24 K. Khachanov in the final. Khachanov advanced by defeating second seed A. de Minaur (Australia) in the semifinals.
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