Jack Draper appears to be like like a person reborn as British No 1 comes from a set right down to defeat Jiri Lehecka and arrange Doha ultimate showdown with Andrey Rublev
- Jack Draper has not looked himself this year as he has struggled with a hip injury
- But the US Open semi-finalist looks back to his best as reaches the Doha final
- Victory against Andrey Rublev would take him up to 11th in the world rankings
Jack Draper is into his fifth career final after beating Jiri Lehecka in Doha.
The British No 1 had to come from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 and set up a meeting with Russian Andrey Rublev on Saturday.
Draper will rise to 12th in the world with this semi-final win, and 11th if he wins the third title of his career, after victories in Stuttgart and Vienna last year.
Lehecka, the 23-year-old Czech, had beaten world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz to reach this stage and so this was never going to be easy for Draper.
But, after scratching his way through three rounds in Australia Draper has looked a man reborn in Doha, having given his troublesome hip the rest it needed.
‘I am proud of the way I competed and played out there,’ Draper said.
Jack Draper roars with delight as he secures victory and a place in his fifth career final
The Brit says he is thrilled with his game and how his body feels after a troublesome hip injury
Draper will move up to 11 in the world rankings if he can see off Andrey Rublev on Saturday
‘At the end of last year, I started to pick up some real momentum. I was playing some good tennis.
‘And then I was building on it. All of a sudden, I couldn’t play for a month. I went out to Australia and my level was all over the place.
‘It gave me a lot of confidence going through those five-set matches. Mentally that was really good for me, even though my tennis wasn’t there.
‘When I came back, it was about getting my tennis right, getting my body in the right place, building on that fitness I had done in Melbourne and from the confidence I got from that.
‘Coming here to Doha, I felt better about my tennis and even better about my body.’
This was his third meeting with Lehecka, after they had split the first two. But Draper served superbly here, with 14 aces, dominated the second-set tiebreak 7-2, and never looked like losing once he broke for 4-3 in the deciding set.
The 23-year-old Brit is going from strength to strength and if he can take down Rublev then a place in the world’s top 10 will be within his reach.
