Emerging Powerhouse Jack Draper Falls In Adelaide Semifinals

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Emerging Powerhouse Jack Draper Falls In Adelaide Semifinals
By Burton Vanderfliet, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Friday, January 13, 2023 7:48pm PST USA

Adelaide-- The 21 year old left-hander Jack Draper of Great Britain is fast emerging in men's tennis as one of the most powerful and promising young players on the tour.

However his power was not enough Friday in the semifinals of the Adelaide International as Draper lost to the lucky loser Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea 7-6(8-6), 6-7(2-7), 6-3 after two hours and 45 minutes of play.

Draper posted two stunning upsets this week in Adelaide by defeating the 8th seed Tommy Paul of the USA in round two before also beating the 3rd seeded Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals.

The six feet four inches tall Draper is expected on Monday to move up two rankings places from 40 to 38.

Jack Draper of Great Britain

Sunday night in round one, Draper takes on the top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Serving at five games all in set one, Draper netted three backhands and also struck a doublefault to lose serve and trail 5-6 before breaking serve in the following game to reach a tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, Kwon was the more aggressive player with his forehand.

The five feet eleven inches tall player struck several forehand winners including a powerful crosscourt forehand winner on set point to close out the set.

Neither player faced a breakpoint in set two as the set reached a second tiebreaker of the day.

In the tiebreaker, Kwon committed five errors to one from Draper as the Briton looked to be the steadier of the two players mid-match.

As well Draper struck two backhand winners in the tiebreaker including a crosscourt return winner on set point to level the match at one set all.

However in set three, Draper seemed to have left some of his energy and consistency in set two as he struck a down the line backhand wide on breakpoint to drop serve in the opening game of the set to trail 0-1.

After striking several forehand winners, Kwon increased his final set lead to 4-2 before Draper held serve to reach 4-3.

Kwon struck two additional forehand winners in the process of holding serve to lead 5-3.

Draper served to stay in the match and was unfortunately for him no longer the aggressive shotmaker he was mid-match.

Kwon struck a backhand, a forehand and a dropshot winner to reach matchpoint at 30-40.

The South Korean, who had lost in qualifying before entering the main draw as a lucky loser when another competitor withdrew, then hit an inside out crosscourt forehand winner to break serve and end the match.

Kwon used a mix of defense and offense to withstand a barrage of extremely powerful groundstrokes and serves from his taller, more powerful opponent before unleashing his own game changing forehands.

Draper, who turned pro in 2018, posted his best career win in the second round of last year's US Open where he defeated the 7th ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Sunday night in round one at an estimated 8:00pm PST USA, Draper takes on the defending champion and top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain at the Australian Open in Melbourne.