Draper fires warning to Nadal by reaching Adelaide semis

Britain’s Jack Draper fired a warning to Rafael Nadal by storming previous Karen Khachanov and into the Adelaide Worldwide semi-finals on Thursday.

The promising 21-year-old faces defending champion Nadal within the first spherical of the Australian Open subsequent week and confirmed he was in high quality contact with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Russia’s Khachanov.

It was a measure of revenge for Draper after dropping to his third-seeded opponent final week.

Draper lifted his rating from 262 to 40 in a breakthrough 2022 and his Adelaide semi is his third previously six months.

“It’ll be wonderful to play on courtroom with him, he’s an excellent champion,” Draper mentioned of 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal. “I wish to play very well, and I wish to compete arduous and do the most effective I can.”

Draper added that he believed he may obtain “nice issues,” however there was “a mountain of labor to do”.

Whereas the speak continues to develop round him, the younger Briton just isn’t permitting it to affect his strategy.

“There’s at all times going to be quite a lot of noise. It’s necessary to maintain your head down and simply get on with the job since you’re extra more likely to do it that approach,” he mentioned.

Draper will tackle South Korea’s Kwon Quickly-woo for a spot within the last after the world quantity 84 dominated Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 6-1, 6-2 in below an hour.

Roberto Bautista Agut additionally moved into the ultimate 4 with a simple 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

His reward is a conflict with Thanasi Kokkinakis after the Australian battled previous Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1.

Within the girls’s draw, Daria Kasatkina claimed her second straight win over a former Grand Slam champion to achieve the final 4.

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

“We have been each dropping serve early. As soon as I began to carry, the sport modified a bit,” mentioned the world quantity eight.

“Total, I used to be actually proud of my efficiency, and I saved my composure within the breaker.”

It arrange a gathering with Spain’s Paula Badosa after the world quantity 11 beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.

Russian sixth seed Veronika Kudermetova got here from a set right down to topple American Danielle Collins 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 and can subsequent face both Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic or French world quantity 4 Caroline Garcia.