Jack Draper beats fifth seed Taylor Fritz to reach Paris Masters third round
The British number one continued his fine form to beat the US Open finalist.
British number one Jack Draper picked up another statement win by beating fifth seed Taylor Fritz to reach the third round of the Paris Masters.
The 22-year-old, who won his maiden ATP 500 title in Vienna on Sunday to climb to a career-high 15th in the world rankings, won 7-6 (6) 4-6 6-4.
Draper, who reached the US Open semi-finals in September, broke the American’s serve in the third game.
But as he served for the first set, errors crept in and Fritz drew level at 5-5.
Draper dug deep from 15-30 down to take it into a tie-break and an astonishing winner down the line from a Fritz overhead helped give him two set points.
He was unable to take them but made the most of a third opportunity when Fritz went long to move a set ahead.
Draper cranked up the pressure midway through the second set, forcing six break points at 3-2, but Fritz repelled the lot and then promptly broke to love before levelling the match.
The deciding set went with serve until 5-4 when Draper struck the decisive blow to wrap up victory in two hours and 21 minutes.
“It was difficult. I don’t think it was the cleanest tennis from either of us,” Draper told Sky Sports.
“We served pretty well but it was tough to get used to the conditions. I thought I did a really good job of competing. Taylor is a top player for a reason. I’m really happy with the win today and with my fight.
“If I want to be a consistent top player I’m going to have to back up match after match against the top, top players in the world.
“I never like to put limitations on myself. It’s the end of the season, a lot of people are hurting, not just myself. I’ll keep my head down and keep fighting for every point.”
Draper will face Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur, the player he beat in straight sets in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, in the third round.
