Jack Draper has been playing some really solid tennis to finish the year and it continued at the 2023 Sofia Open where he stunned top seed Lorenzo Musetti.
The Brit proved himself an amazing indoor player last year with a couple of ATP Challenger trophies. He added another Challenger trophy last week in Bergamo and is now playing really strong tennis in Sofia. He took on top seed Lorenzo Musetti and the Italian started really well.
It was an early break for the Italian who isn't known as a really great hard court player but has slowly improved. Draper kept pushing but couldn't really do much initially however he kept going at Musetti's backhand.
It didn't hold as the Brit broke back to make it 4-4, after which he took a 5-4 lead. Musetti stabilized for a while but lost his serve down 5-6 to drop the opening set. Draper was simply too overwhelming for the Italian as he had bigger weapons.
The second set was much simpler for the Brit as the Italian expectedly lost some confidence, and problems followed after that. The final score was 7-5 6-2 for the Brit, who moves on to the quarter-finals after two solid wins.
He's now up to seven wins in a row which is a great thing for him as he missed a lot of this time this year with injuries. He's also going to play for Great Britain at the Davis Cup Finals and the country will need his indoor skill.
They're already down Dan Evans and having a red-hot Draper could be the x-factor he they need. Up next for him is a challenger player in Ilkel who shouldn't be a huge problem for the Brit. A semi-final is up for grabs, and quite possibly even more. A title would do wonders for his confidence.
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