Jack Draper reached the semifinal at the Next Gen ATP Final in Milan after his 4-1 4-0 4-3 (7-3) win over Lorenzo Musetti. The British player finished second in the Red Group behind Dominic Stricker.
Draper earned his only break in the the fourth game to win the opening set 4-1. The British player did not drop a point on serve and broke twice in the the first and third games to cruise through to a 4-0 lead.
Musetti saved the only break point of the third set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Draper won four consecutive points from 3-3 to claim the tie-break 7-3.
“Yesterday I played a bit better than my first match and then today I really hit some form. I played well, served great. Lorenzo is a great player and may have been a bit tired after his match, but I am glad with the way I played today”, said Draper.
Jiri Lehecka beat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 4-3 (7-5) 4-1 4-3 (7-3) to finish second in the Green Group. The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Lehecka earned a mini-break twice, but Arnaldi broke back to draw level to 4-4. Lehecka won three consecutive points from 4-4 to win the tie-break 7-4. Lehecka earned a break in the second game to win the second set 4-1. Both players held on serve in the third set to set up a second tie-break. Lehecka went up a mini-break, but Arnaldi broke back both times to draw level to 3-3. Lehecka won the final three points to seal the third set 7-4.
Lehecka sets up a semifinal against Dominic Stricker, who won the Red Group with a 3-0 record after his 4-2 4-1 4-2 win against Chun Hsin Tseng.
Stricker went up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Tseng broke back in the fifth game to close the gap to 2-3, but Sticker earned his second break to close out the first set 4-2. Sticker earned a break in each of the second and the third set to seal the third set. Stricker could become the second Swiss player to win a tournament at the Palalido in Milan following in the footsteps of Roger Federer, who won his first ATP tournament in the Italian city in 2001.
