Jack Draper finally managed to string together a few matches, but he proved no match for Andrey Rublev, who moves on to the quarter-final at the 2023 US Open.
Draper battled injuries for much of this year, and when he pulled out of Winston-Salem, many wondered whether his injuries returned. The Brit has endured plenty of heartbreak, making this run in New York much more significant for him.
Yes, he's out and won't play in the quarter-final, but this was important for him to build up that confidence ahead of what hopefully will be a strong finish to the year. Rublev, on the other hand, managed to book another Grand Slam quarter-final, so let's see what happens this time.
Generally, he hasn't been able to progress much further than that but perhaps this is the year. He took the first set rather comfortably behind pretty solid play from the baseline. He had the same amount of winners as Draper but fewer errors which was the difference.
Draper saved some early break point in the second set, which frustrated Rublev so much that he lost focus and got broken. Draper was far more aggressive in this one, outhitting Rublev, which was enough to win the set.
The next one opened with an early break for Draper, and it seemed like Rublev was in great trouble. He quickly composed himself to break back, which was crucial in many ways. He might have lost the set if he allowed Draper to retain the lead a few games more.
This way, he could completely cut his opponent's momentum, cruising to a 6-3 finish. From there, finishing the match was rather simple, as he was entirely in control of it. The final score was 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3 for Rublev, who finished with 14 aces and 44 winners. It was a good win for Rublev after the horror preparation leading up to it.
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