Jack Draper was beaten by Alex de Minaur at the Rolex Paris Masters; Draper still had an outside chance of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals; watch all the ATP and WTA action live on Sky Sports Tennis
Thursday 31 October 2024 19:18, UK
Jack Draper's slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Tour's season-ending finals are over after suffering a third-round exit to Alex de Minaur at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Draper, who reached the US Open semi-finals in September and claimed his maiden ATP 500 title in Vienna on Sunday, needed to also win this week's event in Paris to stay in with a chance of moving inside the top eight of the season-long ATP Live Race to Turin rankings.
The British No 1 had reached the last 16 by claiming a straight-sets win over Jiri Lehecka and dispatching Taylor Fritz in a final-set decider, with hopes of an eighth consecutive victory increased when he moved a set up against De Minaur.
De Minaur responded to break Draper twice during a dominant second set, before the ninth seed closed out a 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory in just over two hours to reach the quarter-finals.
Draper put himself in control of the first set when he won three successive games to build a 5-3 advantage, before De Minaur recovered from going 0-30 down on serve to hold and extend the set.
De Minaur took advantage of a sloppy game from Draper to break back when the Briton was serving for the set, only for Draper to break again at 6-5 to move a set ahead.
Draper, playing his seventh match in eight days, started to run out of steam as De Minaur raced through the second with two breaks of serve and then broke him again in the opening game of the final set.
A smashed racket in frustration sparked a brief fightback by Draper, who found a short burst of energy to level the set at two apiece, only for De Minaur to hit straight back and win three of his next four games to complete his victory.
The loss could end of Draper's impressive season, in which he has won two titles, made his first Grand Slam semi-final and moved inside the world's top 20, while De Minaur's win moves him inside the projected qualification spots for the Nitto ATP Finals.
"You can never say 'job done' in the middle of a tournament, that's not in my DNA," De Minaur said, when asked about the Live Race. "Obviously I'm super-stoked with the win, but I will keep on doing my best and keep on trying to win more matches.
"It took every ounce from me and I am just happy I was able to rally. I'm going to put my body on the line, try my hardest, show my opponent that I can do that all day. I needed to bring that intensity because Jack is a hell of a competitor, playing with so much confidence right now."
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