Jack Draper came back from a set and a break down to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 7-6(9), 7-6(7) in an Adelaide International marathon on Wednesday afternoon. Draper also fought off two match points in the second-set tiebreaker, saved a break point at 3-3 in the third and two break points at 4-4, and recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker before prevailing in three hours and 40 minutes.
Controversy struck at 5-5 in the deciding tiebreaker, when Draper hit a shot that apparently went through the net instead of over the net cord. Nonetheless, the point was awarded to the British left-hander. Although Kecmanovic saved the ensuing match point at 5-6 and another at 6-7, the Serb finally succumbed on Draper’s third chance at 7-8.
Draper will get right back in action on Thursday with a tough test against No. 1 seed Tommy Paul. The American followed up a first-round bye with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Alex Bolt.
The other quarterfinal matchups in Adelaide are Lorenzo Musetti vs. Alexander Bublik, Sebastian Korda vs. Christopher O’Connell, and Nicolas Jarry vs. Jiri Lehecka. Similar to Draper, Jarry beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 6-4 from a set and a break down and from a match point down in the second-set tiebreaker.
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nice one, Draper
A very long match, hope Jack’s OK.
He beat Paul. Why are Draper and Rybakina playing the week before a slam? We all know Draper is very injury prone and Ryba thrashed Saba last weekend to win a title so why keep playing? Ryba often complains about scheduling and getting tired so why play 4 weeks in a row? Reckon it radically affects her chances of winning.