Tennis: Draper fires warning to Nadal by reaching Adelaide semis

ADELAIDE – Britain’s Jack Draper fired a warning to Rafael Nadal by storming past Karen Khachanov and into the Adelaide International II semi-finals on Thursday.

The promising 21-year-old faces defending champion Nadal in the first round of the Australian Open next week and showed he was in fine touch with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Russia’s Khachanov.

It was also a measure of revenge for Draper after losing to his third-seeded opponent last week at the Adelaide International I tournament.

“It’ll be amazing to play on court with him, he’s a great champion,” he said of facing record 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal.

“I want to play really well and I want to compete hard and do the best I can.”

The Briton lifted his ranking from 265th to 40th in a breakthrough 2022 and his Adelaide semi-final is his third in the past six months, proving that he can be a rising star if his form continues.

Draper added that he believed he could achieve “great things” but there was still “a mountain of work to do”.

While the talk continues to grow around him, the youngster is not allowing it to influence his approach.

“There’s always going to be a lot of noise. It’s important to keep your head down and just get on with the job because you’re more likely to do it that way,” he said.

Draper will take on South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo for a place in the final, after the world No. 84 dominated Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour.

Kwon and Draper faced off last week in the first of two Adelaide events, with the Briton winning 6-2, 6-1.

In the women’s draw, Daria Kasatkina claimed her second straight win over a former Grand Slam champion to reach the last four.

The Russian defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), a day after sweeping past former Roland Garros winner Barbora Krejcikova.

“We were both dropping serve early. Once I started to hold, the game changed a bit,” said the world No. 8.

“Overall I was really happy with my performance and I kept my composure in the breaker.”

She set up a meeting with Spain’s Paula Badosa, after the world No. 11 beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

In Melbourne, Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz applied a final layer of gloss to their pre-Australian Open form with straight-sets wins at the Kooyong Classic.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray scored a confidence-boosting 6-3, 6-3 defeat of world No. 24 Alex de Minaur, while Fritz followed up on his Team USA United Cup title by toppling Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

“I had a good level in today’s match,” said the Scot. “I’m playing the tennis I need to try and be successful. The courts require aggressive tennis, the balls shoot through.”

Murray, who has only played the Australian Open twice in the last five editions due to two hip operations, added that his confidence was growing by the day.

“If I can get through a few rounds (in Melbourne) I don’t see why I can’t do well,” he said.

World No. 9 and Wimbledon quarter-finalist Fritz, meanwhile, has his eye on major goals for 2023.

“I want a top-five ranking, I want a big result at a Slam – that’s what’s really missing right now,” he said.

“I see myself in a Grand Slam final with the chance to play for the title. That’s something I’ve never done before. With my level now I think I can achieve that.” AFP