
Jack Draper stated he’s not shocked by his kind on clay after thrashing Tommy Paul to succeed in the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
The British No 1 is thru to the quarter-finals of an ATP 1000 event on clay for the primary time, and his 6-2 6-2 win over the eleventh seed Paul was his finest outcome on the floor in his profession.
Draper had misplaced his earlier match towards Paul at Queen’s final yr however the American didn’t take a look at a single break level because the 23-year-old put collectively a dominant efficiency.
Draper is the fifth seed in Madrid however is the best seed remaining within the draw after Carlos Alcaraz withdrew as a consequence of damage and Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz had been knocked earlier than the quarter-finals.
Draper might have performed Djokovic within the quarter-finals however will as an alternative meet his conqueror, Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, for a spot within the remaining 4 on Thursday.
“I simply assume I do know that it is simply been a matter of time till I do one thing good on the clay,” Draper instructed Sky Sports activities.
“After I practise again house on it, and after I was youthful, I all the time felt good on the floor.
“It is a bit of a distinct stage now, clearly. It feels good to try to carry on proving to myself and everybody else that I am an excellent participant on this floor and that I am harmful.
“At this stage it’s all about momentum and confidence and particularly on this floor I really feel prefer it’s simply extra matches, extra time competing towards one of the best gamers on the earth and I felt actually good on the market.
“I knew Tommy is a superb participant and I needed to be on him from the off so I felt good.
“Most likely for gamers from the UK or who don’t play on the floor usually, they go into it with the mindset that they’re not going to be that nice on it, due to this fact that may forestall them from going additional.
“Whereas final yr I took just a few early losses, this yr it’s been an enormous aim of mine to show that I can play rather well [on clay] and I do know if I need to be a high participant then I’ve to.”
Draper received the most important title of his profession thus far at Indian Wells earlier this season and can enter the world’s high 5 forward of the French Open, probably changing Djokovic, must be progress additional in Madrid.
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