De Minaur downs Draper to reach Paris Masters quarter-finals

Alex de Minaur came from behind to defeat Jack Draper 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at the Paris Masters on Thursday, ending the Brit’s seven-match winning streak.

Tennis betting sites had the Australian as an underdog heading into the match, as he’d been unable to beat a top-20 player since June after suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon.

The win takes de Minaur to the cusp of qualifying for the year-end ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

He now moves into eighth place in the Race to Turin — ahead of Andrey Rublev, who lost earlier in the week.

Only Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas can overtake the 25-year-old in the standings this week, but both would require title runs in Paris.

“You can never say ‘job done’ in the middle of a tournament, that’s not in my DNA,” de Minaur said when asked of his ATP Finals prospects.

“Obviously I’m super stoked with the win today, but I will keep on doing my best and keep on trying to win more matches.

“It took every ounce from me, and I am just happy I was able to rally.

“I’m going to put my body on the line, try my hardest, show my opponent that I can do that all day.

“I needed to bring that intensity because Jack is a hell of a competitor, playing with so much confidence right now.”

De Minaur was sublime on return, breaking Draper six times from nine opportunities after the Englishman had only been broken twice up until the round of 16.

The Sydneysider also kept his clanger count typically low, making just 13 unforced errors across the two-hour, five-minute clash and extracting nearly double that from the other side of the net.

Draper’s own slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals end with his loss in Paris, but the 22-year-old will rise to a new career high of No.14 in the world on Monday.

Next up, de Minaur faces 2022 champion Holger Rune in the quarter-finals, where he is a -138.89 favourite to win at Bovada.

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