Draper powers into Mexican Open quarters, Ruud secures top-10 return

Jack Draper reached the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open with a straight-sets win over Yoshihito Nishioka.

The British No. 3 fired down 11 aces and saved all three break points he faced to win 6-3 6-0.

Draper will next take on Miomir Kecmanovic, who is ranked three places below him at No. 53 in the world.

Draper has lost just seven games in his two matches in Acapulco and was in control early against Nishioka as he opened up a 3-0 lead.

He dropped just one point behind his first serve, winning 18 of 19 points, as he took the set in 42 minutes.

The second set flew by as Draper dominated, breaking three times and losing just three points on his serve.

Defending champion Alex Minaur has also dropped just seven games so far after reaching the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 win over Sebastian Ofner.

“I’ve got a very big heart, I’ll tell you that,” said De Minaur after the win.

“This heart is going to keep me going, no matter what the score is, where I’m at, what stage of my career I am [in]. It’s what’s gotten me to this point so far, and it’s what’s going to hopefully get me further and further.”

De Minaur won 90% of his first-serve points and broke serve five times to set up a meeting with fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It’s all about trying to put as much pressure as I can on my opponents every single service game,” De Minaur added.

“And no matter what the result is in that game, just always try to stay in there and try to win a couple points here and there. To be honest, I don’t think I’m doing anything special out there. I’m just asking the question.”

Tsitsipas beat Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-3 7-6(6) to make the last eight.

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Tsitsipas recovered from 5-2 down in the tie-breaker to win, having also missed the chance to serve for the match at 5-4 up.

“It’s not an easy mountain to climb being 5-2 down and having your opponent serve twice,” Tsitsipas said.

“It’s quite an incredible comeback to be honest in this part of the match, especially when the momentum shifts and changes so quick after serving for the match.

“It’s something that you do not expect and there’s definitely a lot of doubt creeping through your mind. I think at this particular moment I was just able to compose myself really well and I refused to go to a third set, which was very important.”

Casper Ruud secured a top-10 return with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Dusan Lajovic.

Former world No. 2 Ruud is now 11-2 for the season and will next face Ben Shelton, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(1) 3-6 6-3.

Holger Rune saved all seven break points he faced to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6(5) 6-2 and set up a quarter-final with Dominik Koepfer, who upset eighth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-4 5-7 6-1.

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Draper powers into Mexican Open quarters, Medvedev reaches semi-finals in Dubai

Jack Draper reached the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open with a straight-sets win over Yoshihito Nishioka.

The British No. 3 fired down 11 aces and saved all three break points he faced to win 6-3 6-0.

Draper will next take on Miomir Kecmanovic, who is ranked three places below him at No. 53 in the world.

Draper has lost just seven games in his two matches in Acapulco and was in control early against Nishioka as he opened up a 3-0 lead.

He dropped just one point behind his first serve, winning 18 of 19 points, as he took the set in 42 minutes.

The second set flew by as Draper dominated, breaking three times and losing just three points on his serve.

Defending champion Alex de Minaur has also dropped just seven games so far after reaching the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 win over Sebastian Ofner.

“I’ve got a very big heart, I’ll tell you that,” said De Minaur after the win.

“This heart is going to keep me going, no matter what the score is, where I’m at, what stage of my career I am [in]. It’s what’s gotten me to this point so far, and it’s what’s going to hopefully get me further and further.”

De Minaur won 90% of his first-serve points and broke serve five times to set up a meeting with fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It’s all about trying to put as much pressure as I can on my opponents every single service game,” De Minaur added.

“And no matter what the result is in that game, just always try to stay in there and try to win a couple points here and there. To be honest, I don’t think I’m doing anything special out there. I’m just asking the question.”

Tsitsipas beat Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-3 7-6(6) to make the last eight.

picture

Murray says he will ‘likely not play past this summer’, aims to finish at Wimbledon or Olympics

Tsitsipas recovered from 5-2 down in the tie-breaker to win, having also missed the chance to serve for the match at 5-4 up.

“It’s not an easy mountain to climb being 5-2 down and having your opponent serve twice,” Tsitsipas said.

“It’s quite an incredible comeback to be honest in this part of the match, especially when the momentum shifts and changes so quick after serving for the match.

“It’s something that you do not expect and there’s definitely a lot of doubt creeping through your mind. I think at this particular moment I was just able to compose myself really well and I refused to go to a third set, which was very important.”

Casper Ruud secured a top-10 return with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Dusan Lajovic.

Former world No. 2 Ruud is now 11-2 for the season and will next face Ben Shelton, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(1) 3-6 6-3.

Holger Rune saved all seven break points he faced to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6(5) 6-2 and set up a quarter-final with Dominik Koepfer, who upset eighth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-4 5-7 6-1.

Daniil Medvedev was among those to reach the semi-finals at the Dubai Open.

His title defence at the ATP 500 event continued with a comprehensive 6-2 6-3 victory against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The world No. 4 remained in control throughout the encounter, making just six unforced errors as he triumphed in 89 minutes.

Medvedev will next play the winner of Hubert Hurkacz’s match against Ugo Humbert as he looks to put his Australian Open final loss to Jannik Sinner behind him.

Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik also reached the semi-finals in Dubai following retirements.

Second seed Rublev was 6-4 4-3 up when Sebastian Korda retired from their quarter-final clash.

Bublik led 6-4 4-1 when Jiri Lehecka pulled out of their match.

Bublik is set to move into the top 20 for the first time next week and will face Rublev in the quarters.

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