Jack Draper will compete in his second ATP Tour final at the Adelaide International thanks to a stellar two-set win over eighth seed Alexander Bublik in Friday's semi-final.
In a contest rife with ingenuity and trick shots, the British number four produced a clean showing and capitalised on frequent serving errors from his Kazakh foe to prevail 7-6[2] 6-4 in just over an hour and a half to move within one match of his maiden top-level title.
"Very proud of myself, it was a tough match today against a guy who's very unpredictable. I'm very glad with the way I'm playing. He's great for tennis, it's really fun to play him. It was a really good match," Draper said on the court.
"It would mean a lot to me [to win the title]. I made the semi-finals here last year and I've gone one further this year. I'm really hoping I can over the line tomorrow. I'm going to need all the support I can get."
Draper had already got one over Bublik during their inaugural meeting at the 2021 Queen's Club Championships and quickly took Friday's semi-final by the scruff of the neck, breaking Bublik in his opening service game.
However, that break represented one of four successive losses of serve for both men as early nerves kicked in, although Bublik snapped that streak with a hold for 3-3 and saved a set point to force a tie-breaker.
Despite falling 2-1 down, Draper found a ruthless edge to win six points on the trot and was gifted the first break of the second set by Bublik, who was the master of his own downfall with a trio of double faults in the fifth game.
The eighth seed could not muster up a response to that calamity, as Draper brought up three match points with his eighth ace of the day, and Bublik would fire a cross-court forehand wide of the tramlines on the Brit's first such point to close an entertaining contest.
Draper - whose first ATP Tour final in November's Sofia Open ended in defeat to Adrian Mannarino - will battle for glory on Saturday against Czech seventh seed and fellow 22-year-old Jiri Lehecka, who eased past Sebastian Korda 6-2 6-1 in the day's first semi-final.
As is the case with Draper, Lehecka is also gunning for his first ATP Tour title in Adelaide, having been beaten by Sebastian Baez in his inaugural top-level final at August's Winston-Salem Open. body check tags ::
