Britain’s Jack Draper made an impressive comeback against Germany’s Rudolf Molleker to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the Bavarian International in Munich.
Draper lost the opening set but came back from a rain delay renewed with energy and aggression as he won 4-6 6-1 6-1.
The 22-year-old, who is hoping to reach his first clay-court final at an ATP event, will face Taylor Fritz or Alejandro Moro Canas in the last eight on Friday, live on Sky Sports Tennis.
“He played an amazing level in the first set. The conditions were very rainy and slow, so it was tough to come out and play a certain way,” said Draper.
“In the second and third, the sun came out and I started feeling better. better. I’m really proud of how I played.
“You’ve got to take whatever comes at you. It’s a real challenge for both players and we both had to mentally stay good.”
How Draper beat Molleker
Wild card Molleker started the better player as he won the longer baseline rallies and capitalised on the only break point chances of the first set to go 3-2 up and went on to hold his serve.
Rain made the ball heavy and seemingly played into the German’s hands in the set but play was stopped for 45 minutes ahead of the second set due to the wet weather.
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Annabel Croft revealed that Jack Draper is a natural right hander but plays with his left, like Rafael Nadal, which means the backhand is played like a second forehand.
Immediately, Draper was visibly hitting the ball harder and broke to go 3-1 ahead after some brilliant play at the net and continued to be on the front foot as he won the remaining games in a quick 26-minute set.
A break at the start of the deciding set ensured Draper was now favourite and he carried the momentum for the remainder of the match by rattling off four games in a row to beat Molleker on his opponent’s home turf.
Later on Wednesday, Rafael Nadal continues his comeback in Barcelona when he takes on Alex de Minaur at 3pm, before Emma Raducanu faces Angelique Kerber at 5.30pm in Stuttgart – both matches will be live on Sky Sports Tennis.
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