When he arrived in Madrid two weeks ago, Jack Draper was still just trying to find his rhythm on clay, a surface he knew he could play well on but one that had so far brought him nothing but misery.
Now, after another of the best fortnights of his career, the 23-year-old will play for one of the biggest clay titles of all. He continued his sublime breakthrough run on Friday night by holding on in a bruising encounter with the 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti to reach the Madrid Open final with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win.
Although Draper had already put together a series of strong wins en route to the semi-final, Musetti represented by far his toughest opponent of the tournament. A Wimbledon semi-finalist and Olympic bronze medallist in the past year, the Italian reached his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo last month. Armed with one of the most varied games on the tour alongside his excellent athleticism, Musetti was built to disrupt and neutralise Draper.
From the beginning, the contest was predictably tough and physical but Draper overwhelmed the Italian with his weight and depth of shot, particularly off his forehand. Musetti remained calm, however, and he worked his way into the match by finding rhythm on his first serve and injecting pace into his forehand. By the second half of the set, Musetti was the better player and he constantly pressured Draper to hold serve and keep up.
But the world No 5 has never been stronger, more mentally tough and as confident in his game. Under pressure against a classy opponent, he was patient and demonstrated his problem solving ability and his strength, taking back control of the match by mixing in serve and volleying. At the end of a high quality, breathless second set, Draper found a way to drag himself into the final and keep his remarkable run going.
