Mutua Madrid Open Match Preview
Can Indian Wells champion Jack Draper take his hard-court momentum onto clay? The young Brit has traditionally played his best on faster surfaces, but an encouraging start in Monte Carlo, where he narrowly lost a round-of-16 clash with former finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, set him in good stead for a successful Madrid campaign.
Benefitting from a third-round walkover against No. 30 seed Matteo Berrettini, Draper is now on the brink of his first clay-court Masters 1000 quarterfinal. Standing in his way is American Tommy Paul, whom he’s beaten three out of five times.
Paul is a former Roland Garros junior champion, but has also played his best on hard courts and grass, beating Draper on the latter en route to his first ATP 500 title in Queen’s Club last year. Peaking at No. 9 in the rankings earlier this year, the 27-year-old underperformed expectations through the Sunshine Swing, bowing out of Indian Wells and Miami in the fourth and third round, respectively.
After a solid clay warm-up in Houston, Paul edged past Brazilian youngster Joao Fonseca and held off No. 24 seed Karen Khachanov in three sets to book a sixth meeting with Draper. What seems like a toss-up is also a big opportunity, with the winner to play either Frances Tiafoe or Matteo Arnaldi to reach the semifinals, but only one can advance. Winner: Paul—David Kane
👉 Click here for more news on the Mutua Madrid Open.
