Jack Draper beat Jan Lennard Struff 6-3 6-4 after 84 minutes the Sofia Open to become the youngest British player to reach an ATP Tour level since Andy Murray in 2009.
Struff broke serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Draper broke straight back before earning the double break in a four-game winning streak. The British player saved two break-back points in the seventh game before holding serve at 30 to seal the first set 6-3.
Draper went down 0-40 on his first service game at the start of the second set, but he fought back to hold serve with three consecutive aces. Struff did not convert two break points in the fourth game, but he saved a break point in the fifth game with three aces. Draper broke serve in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead, as Struff made a double fault on the break point. Draper missed two match points, but he sealed the win on his third opportunity with his 10th ace to reach his first ATP Tour final.
Draper has extended his winning streak to nine consecutive matches at all levels, after winning the ATP Challenger in Bergamo. The British player has not dropped a set this week against Maximiliam Marterer, Lorenzo Musetti and Cam Ilkel.
Draper improved by 22 spots to Number 60 in the ATP live Ranking following his 19th win of the season. He reached two ATP Tour semifinals in Eastbourne 2022 and Adelaide in 2023.
“Struff is a player who has had an incredible year, won a lot of matches. I had to really dig deep today and I am proud of my performance. I have made a couple of semifinals and came short and especially after this year with the injuries and wanting to be back stronger, I have really achieved that and my game is in a great place”, said Draper.
Draper set up a final against Adrian Mannarino, who beat Pavel Kotov 6-2 7-6 (7-2) after 87 minutes to earn a personal best 42-tour level wins this year. The Frenchman fended off the only break point he faced to reach his fourth final of 2023.
Mannarino broke twice in the third and fifth games to win the first set 6-2. The second set went on serve with no breaks of serve en route to the tie-break.
Mannarino opened up a 4-1 lead in the tie-break. Kotov pulled one of the two breaks back for 2-4. Mannarino won the final three points including two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2.
