British No 1 Jack Draper reeled off the final three video games to supply a gutsy three-set victory towards ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on the Cincinnati Open on Thursday.
Tsitsipas served for the match at 5-4 within the third set, however Draper gained 12 of the final 17 factors to say a surprising 3-6 6-4 7-5 win and attain the third spherical.
“I believe Stefanos has a giant presence and the court docket was insanely quick, so it is arduous to play good tennis,” Draper advised Sky Sports activities.
“Within the first hour I actually struggled… and that simply is not ok towards these high gamers.
“On the whole, my grit, my dedication and my angle gained me the match at the moment, so I am very happy with that.”
Draper had required a medical time-out throughout his first-round win over Jaume Munar, however gave the impression to be shifting freely throughout the early exchanges.
Tsitsipas made a decisive break to steer 3-1 and regardless of choosing up shot-clock violations, the Greek world quantity 11 fended off a few break factors for Draper earlier than closing out the opening set.
Draper regrouped for the second set, his serve this time holding up nicely, earlier than forcing residence a break level alternative within the tenth sport following a double-fault by Tsitsipas to stage the match.
The 22-year-old, although, was quickly underneath stress once more as Tsitsipas had three break factors within the opening sport of the deciding set, however Draper recovered for an important maintain.
Tsitsipas regarded to have taken a decisive break within the ninth sport, solely to then discover himself 0-40 down following one other name for time violation and a double fault, which noticed Draper again on stage phrases at 5-5.
Draper, at present ranked 28 within the ATP standings, held to place the stress again on Tsitsipas earlier than changing an outstanding return to seal one other hard-earned victory.
Draper is now 2-0 towards Tsitsipas and he’ll tackle the winner of seventh seed Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot within the quarter-finals.
Story of the Tape
Alexander Zverev turned the primary participant to earn 50 tour-level wins this season after defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-2 for a gap win.
“I felt nicely on the court docket,” mentioned Zverev, who lifted the trophy in Cincinnati in 2021. “I’ve felt good in apply after which it’s simpler to convey on court docket. I did not really feel nicely in Canada in any respect, even within the few matches I gained. I hope my kind is getting higher and higher and I can play some good tennis.
“We’re very related gamers. We’re each very tall and good baseline gamers and once we are each enjoying it’s about kind and who’s enjoying higher and at the moment I’m completely satisfied that it was me and I obtained an excellent win at the moment.”
Elsewhere, Hubert Hurkacz got here by means of 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 towards qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, who was handed a code violation sport penalty after hitting balls into the gang as his frustrations boiled over throughout the deciding set.
World No 7 Andrey Rublev noticed off China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-4 6-3 to make the final 16 whereas Holger Rune got here by means of 6-3 7-6 (10-8) towards Nuno Borges.
American Ben Shelton delighted the house crowd as he battled to a 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 win over Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Grigor Dimitrov, although, suffered an surprising defeat to Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, who fought from behind to win 4-6 6-4 6-3.
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