Jack Draper: New British No 1 beats defending champion Frances Tiafoe to reach Stuttgart Open semi-finals

Posted by Admin June 14, 2024 Sports

New British No 1 Jack Draper is into the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open after coming from a set down to beat defending champion Frances Tiafoe.

Draper triumphed 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in two hours and 13 minutes on Friday afternoon and will now take on Tiafoe’s fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the last four on Saturday.

The Briton, seeded sixth in Germany, sent down a career-high 31 aces in his quarter-final victory and won 85 per cent of points on his first serve.

Draper’s victory lifts him to 33rd in the live ATP rankings and he will be ratified as British No 1 on Monday, ahead of Cameron Norrie, who was beaten in the last 16 at Nottingham on Thursday by compatriot Jack Pinnington Jones.

Draper is now into his sixth ATP Tour semi-final and aiming to reach a third final, with the 22-year-old having finished runner-up in the 2023 Sofia Open and 2024 Adelaide international, to Adrian Mannarino and Jiri Lehecka respectively.

The Briton said: “I’m incredibly happy, 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.”

Tiafoe beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in the Stuttgart final in 2023 but both players are now out of this year’s event, with Struff withdrawing ahead of his scheduled quarter-final against Nakashima due to illness.