British No. 1 Jack Draper pulled off an impressive upset by defeating ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a thrilling three-set match at the Cincinnati Open on Thursday. Draper clinched victory by winning the last three games after Tsitsipas served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
After the match, Draper commented on the challenges he faced: “I think Stefanos has a significant presence, and the court was incredibly fast, which made it hard to play quality tennis. I struggled in the first hour… that just isn’t good enough against top players. My grit, determination, and attitude won me the match today, so I’m very proud of that.”
Draper had previously required a medical time-out during his first-round victory over Jaume Munar, but appeared to be moving freely during the early stages of this match.
Tsitsipas broke decisively to lead 3-1 and, despite receiving shot-clock violations, he fended off a couple of break points from Draper before closing out the first set. However, Draper regrouped for the second set, maintaining a solid serve and forcing a crucial break in the 10th game when Tsitsipas double-faulted, leveling the match.
In the deciding set, Draper faced pressure as Tsitsipas had three break points in the opening game, but he managed to hold firm. Tsitsipas appeared to take control with a break in the ninth game, but an untimely double fault and time violation put Draper back on level terms at 5-5.
Draper held his serve to pressure Tsitsipas before sealing the win with a superb return. With this victory, Draper is now 2-0 against Tsitsipas and will face the winner of the match between seventh seed Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Other Notable Matches
In other results, Alexander Zverev became the first player this season to achieve 50 tour-level wins by defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2. “I felt good on the court,” said Zverev, who won the Cincinnati title in 2021. “I hope my form is improving.”
Hubert Hurkacz triumphed over qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev defeated China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-4, 6-3. Holger Rune also advanced, winning 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) against Nuno Borges.
Meanwhile, American Ben Shelton thrilled the home crowd with a hard-fought 6-7 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry. However, Grigor Dimitrov faced an unexpected defeat, losing to Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Credit: Sky Sports
