Jack Draper was critical of his performance against Jiri Lehecka despite beating his Czech rival to book his place in the final of the Qatar Open.
The young Brit will face Andrey Rublev in Saturday’s title decider and is already guaranteed to reach a career-high ATP ranking, regardless of whether he wins or loses.
Draper is projected to climb into 12th after reaching the final, while victory over Rublev would see him rise an additional place to 11th.
He took a while to get going against Lehecka, losing the first set before battling back to claim a 3-6 7-6 6-3 victory.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Draper admitted to being ‘sloppy’ in the early exchanges but said he was pleased with the way he fought back to regain control of the contest.
« I thought in the first set I put in a sloppy game, » he said. « Jiri comes out with such firepower. Same as the last match, I started to get a lead on his serve and I was holding a bit easier.
« I felt better as the match went on and yeah, very proud of the way I competed. »
Draper seems to have a knack for winning drawn-out matches, having also come from behind to beat Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals earlier this week.
He explained that he gained confidence from playing five-set matches at the Australian Open, helping him to dig deep and prevail when the going got tough against Lehecka.
« At the end of last year I started to pick up some real momentum, I was playing some good tennis then I couldn’t play for about a month, » said Draper.
« In Australia my tennis was all over the place but it gave me some confidence getting through five-set matches. Coming here, I felt better about my tennis and even better about my body. »
Draper will be hoping to maintain his winning form against Rublev, a player he has never beaten before, when they do battle in Saturday’s final.
Their last meeting came at the US Open in 2023, when Draper went down in four sets, but he will be looking to give a better account of himself after two years of developing his craft.
« I’m definitely a different player from when I last played him, » he said. « He’s someone I respect massively, he’s been in the top 10 for many years and he’s going to come out and play incredibly well. I’m going to be ready for that one. »
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