Jack Draper hammers Tommy Paul in Adelaide quarter-final; Andy Murray beats Dominic Thiem at Kooyong Classic
Great Britain's Jack Draper cruises through Adelaide International quarter-final, beats American top seed Tommy Paul 6-1 6-4; watch the event live on Sky Sports; Andy Murray defeats Dominic Thiem in exhibition at Kooyong Classic ahead of Australian Open
Thursday 11 January 2024 13:58, UK
Jack Draper cruised through his Adelaide International quarter-final against top seed Tommy Paul, earning a statement 6-1 6-4 win over the American.
The 22-year-old Brit, who next faces eighth seed Alexander Bublik in the semi-finals, has been drawn against American Marcos Giron in the first round of the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday. He could meet Paul again in the second round.
Draper said after his win: "It's always amazing to play in front of a big crowd, especially in front of a great player like Tommy. I played in Adelaide last year and made the semi-finals. I'm really happy to be back and hopefully I can go a bit further this week."
He added: "I knew I had to start well, because I played a three hour, 40 minute match on the hard court yesterday, in the sun, so I had to work really hard for that first set. I felt really great.
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"I came out strong and then the second set was a bit of a battle. It's always going to be that way if someone who is a good competitor starts coming back into the match. I stayed strong and luckily I was able to get it in the end."
Meanwhile, Andy Murray secured a morale-boosting first win of the season against Dominic Thiem at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old Scot triumphed 6-4 6-2 for a welcome victory having lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the Brisbane International last week and then been beaten by Marin Cilic at the Kooyong Classic on Wednesday.
Murray will take on 30th-seeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round of the Australian Open.
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