Jack Draper’s ATP Tour finals hopes after Paris defeat – Irvine Times

Draper had given himself hope of reaching the season-ending showpiece in Turin after winning the Vienna Open last week.

He needed to win in the French capital this week and then follow it up with another strong week at a smaller event next week, but he fell short against De Minaur, who boosted his own chances of qualifying by temporarily moving into the final place.

But Draper, playing his seventh match in eight days, ran out against the Australian in a 5-7 6-2 6-4 defeat in the third round.

And a loss could end an impressive season for Draper, which he will look back on with immense pride after winning two titles, making his first Grand Slam semi-final and earning a career-high top 20 ranking.

After such a grueling schedule and a three-set victory over fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, the notoriously stubborn De Minaur would have been the last person Draper would have wanted to see on the other side of the net.

But things started well and Draper took control of the first set thanks to a hot period in which he went from 2-2 to 5-2.

He looked well on course to win a fourth straight game until 0-30 on De Minaur’s serve, but the Australian struggled to hold and then took advantage of sloppy play to break back when Draper served for the first set .

However, the British number one regained the upper hand and managed to break again at 6-5 to take the first set.

But that’s where the momentum shifted as De Minaur began to take control and stormed to the second set with two breaks of serve.

It looked over for Draper when he was broken in the first game of the decider, resulting in a broken racket, but he clawed back to level at 2-2 after finding a surge of energy.

However, this did not last long as De Minaur hit back straight and then made it to the finish line, winning three of the next four games.