Adelaide: Jack Draper has avenged last weeks loss to Karen Khachanov, advancing to the semifinals of the Adelaide International with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win here on Thursday.
Khachanov defeated Draper seven days prior in Adelaide, but the 21-year-old Brit snapped back at the same venue to mark his third ATP semifinal appearance in the past six months.
He will take on the winner of the clash between Mikael Ymer of Sweden and South Korea’s Soon-Woo Kwon in the semifinals.
“In the last game I got a bit nervous, but that’s part of the game,” Draper said in his on-court interview. “I’m still young, I’m still learning from these things. Against guys like Karen, you can’t give them an inch, otherwise, they run away with it.
“He plays so aggressively and serves really big. Off the back of the court, he looks to be on the front foot, and if you’re not willing to try and get up there with him, he takes charge of the game. I did well to impose my game a little bit more today than last week.”
Draper’s win against Khachenov comes after two Top-10 victories last season over Stefanos Tsitsipas (Montreal) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (US Open).
The 20-year-old Draper, who is the third-highest ranked Brit behind Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, lifted his ranking from world No.262 to No.40 in a breakthrough 2022 season and will be the favourite in his semifinal matchup against either Ymer or Kwon.
–IANS