Jack Draper kept his red-hot season blazing on Friday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he ousted Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach his third final of the year and second at ATP Masters 1000 level.
The lefty was watertight from the baseline, striking the ball freely and confidently. He consistently kept pressure on Musetti and rarely allowed the Italian an opening, even when faced with pressure in a second-set tie-break.
“I felt like both of us, our quality didn’t really drop from the first ball,” said Draper, who extended his perfect record against Musetti, improving to 4-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “Credit to Lorenzo, he’s obviously playing so good on the clay. I played him on hard, and on grass when we were juniors, growing up with him. But on clay, he’s a different beast, so to get this win on this court in this stage, semi-finals, it means so much to me.”
Following his semi-final win, Draper has overtaken Alexander Zverev for second in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Should Draper win the title, he would be just 100 points behind first-placed Carlos Alcaraz. The 23-year-old is aiming for his first trip to the Nitto ATP Finals.
Up next for Draper is 14th seed Casper Ruud, who is hunting his biggest career title. Despite both men’s presence near the top of the sport, Sunday will mark their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Ruud earlier advanced past Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-5.
A three-time tour-level champion, Draper triumphed in Indian Wells earlier this season and had already secured his Top 5 debut in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings following his Madrid quarter-final win. The Sutton native joins Andy Murray as the only Brits to reach ATP Masters 1000 finals on both clay and hard.
Musetti was competing in his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, both of which have come this European clay swing. A finalist in Monte-Carlo, Musetti will crack the Top 10 on Monday, becoming the sixth Italian player since 1973 to achieve that feat. He is 16-6 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.
