Britain’s Jack Draper continued his excellent form by upsetting No 2 seed Hubert Hurkacz to reach the Japan Open quarter-finals.
Draper, playing his first individual tournament since reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open earlier this month, beat his Polish opponent 6-4 6-4 in Tokyo.
The 22-year-old lost both of his matches for Great Britain at the Davis Cup but has picked up where he left off in tournament play with two straight-sets victories in Japan.
Draper claimed the only two breaks of serve in the match to take 3-2 leads in both sets, and was able to deny Hurkacz on each of the three opportunities the world No 8 had to break.
The victory maintains Draper’s late charge for a place in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin next month, with the British No 1 well positioned to make further progress this week from his current ranking of 20th.
“I was pleased with a lot of things today,” Draper said. “I thought my attitude was really good. I got myself out of some tough situations and played the pretty big points on my terms, and that’s something that I’ve wanted to do.
“I know Hubert, I know when he gets time on the ball, he’s so dangerous, probably the best server in the world right now. So, I’m really happy with my composure, the way I approached the game, and hopefully I can carry this momentum forwards.”
In the last eight, Draper will face Ugo Humbert after the Frenchman beat American Brandon Nakashima in straight sets. The highest remaining seed in the tournament is No 5 Tommy Paul, who Draper could face in the semi-finals.
On the other side of the draw, American Ben Shelton advanced to the quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Argentina’s Mariano Navone.
Shelton will face Arthur Fils in the last eight after the Frenchman progressed as a result of an injury to opponent Matteo Berrettini. The Italian won the first set on a tie-break before retiring hurt.
Alcaraz through in Beijing
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Highlights of the China Open match between Carlos Alcaraz and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Carlos Alcaraz withstood a heavy barrage from big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to win 6-4 6-4 in the China Open first round on Friday.
Second-seeded Alcaraz took both of his break point opportunities, despite the No 51-ranked Frenchman regularly sending down 140 mph serves.
Mpetshi Perricard won 83 per cent of the points behind his first serve but gave up costly errors at the beginning of each set, which Alcaraz was wily enough to capitalise on.
Carlos Alcaraz won his opening match at the China Open
“The plan was just to put as many returns in as I can,” Alcaraz said. “Honestly it wasn’t easy. He’s a really powerful player. Big serve, big shots from the baseline. So I had to be really focused.”
Daniil Medvedev safely navigated a tricky first outing, 6-3 6-4 against French veteran Gael Monfils.
Roman Safiullin, who made the main draw as a lucky loser in qualifying, beat three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 and will face top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov also advanced.
Watch both the China Open and Japan Open this week, live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, with coverage starting at 3am each morning.
What’s on Sky Sports Tennis in September?
- Japan Open – ATP 500 (September 25-October 1)
- China Open – ATP 500 (September 26-October 2)
- China Open – WTA 1000 (September 25-October 6)
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