Jack Draper’s march at Sofia Open 2023 goes on.
The Briton reached the final without dropping a set. In the first semi-final, he needed just 1:24 hours to win 6:3, 6:4 over the third seed Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany.
The 21-year-old won Maximilian Merterer (Germany), first-seed Lorenzo Musetti and Cem Ilkel in a row to reach his first ATP Tour level final.
The lefty, who reached tour-level semi-finals in Eastbourne (2022) and in Adelaide (2023), will face Paval Kotov or second-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the final on Saturday at the ATP 250.
The match for the trophy is on Saturday at 15:00.
With today’s win, Draper became the youngest British player to reach a Tour final since Andy Murray (2009, Miami).
Struff was the first to make a break, taking an early lead for a 2:1 game. It was also only the second time since the start of the tournament that Draper lost his service game (the first was against Lorenzo Musetti). However, the 21-year-old Briton responded appropriately and recorded a streak of 4 consecutive games to 5:2. Serving for the set, Draper took his serve at 30 and led 6:3.
In the first two games of the second set, Struff missed 5 breakpoints. Draper patiently waited for his moment, which came in the seventh game. He broke for 4:3 and, until the end, did not allow Struff to return to the match.
The winner fired 10 aces to extend his winning streak to nine matches at all levels, having triumphed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Italy last week. He will be up 22 spots to No. 60 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his 19th tour-level win of the season.
The tournament is held with the support of Inbet, Nova Broadcasting Group, А1, Diema Extra, Electrohold, Sofiamed, First Investment Bank, Europa Bullion, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Tourism.
