Draper: I’m a winner on court like Murray

Jack Draper claimed his fiery temperament is similar to Andy Murray’s after battling past fellow Briton Ryan Peniston to reach the semi-finals of Eastbourne yesterday.

The 20-year-old became the last British player standing at the Rothesay International tennis tournament courtesy of a gutsy 6-3 6-3 success over his countryman.

His powerful performance at Devonshire Park was underpinned by aggression and fight.

Yet he repeatedly expressed agitation and chastised himself following mistakes, drawing comparisons with the demonstrative on-court behaviour of three-time grand slam-winner Murray.

“It’s tough; I’ve never been someone who’s incredibly calm and composed and like ice on a tennis court,” said Draper, who will face France-born American Maxime Cressy in the last four.

“That’s the unique thing about tennis: everyone has a different mentality. Mine’s a bit more fiery and therefore it’s tough to be calm the whole time.

“If I was calm the whole time, I probably wouldn’t get the best out of myself because that’s just not who I am.

“Andy’s got a similar personality, I guess.

“He’s someone who loves competing, wants to win the whole time, and sometimes that brings out a little bit of anger here and there.

“If he was someone who never got pumped up or emotional then maybe he wouldn’t have had the success and career he has had, it’s definitely a balancing act.”

In a first tour-level meeting between the lefthanded wildcards, tournament debutant Draper dropped the opening two games but claimed six of the next seven to clinch the opening set.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with the world No 108 overturning a 3-1 deficit by winning five games on the bounce to progress to the first ATP Tour semi-final of his fledgling career.

Draper is due at Wimbledon next week and, while he is fully focused on the current competition, insists he fears no one.

“I’ve obviously gained a lot of confidence this week which I can take into future tournaments,” said Draper, who took the opening set off Novak Djokovic in his first-round defeat at SW19 last year.

“Everyone in the Wimbledon draw is obviously an amazing player and whoever I play will be very tough.

“There’s no doubt I can go far but, at the same time, there are a lot of things that need to fall into place for that to happen.

“I definitely believe in my ability and my game to beat the best players in the world, especially on grass because it’s a bit of a leveller, I’d say. “I will go into Wimbledon and whoever I play, I will be confident.”

The all-British clash guaranteed some muchneeded cheer for the home crowd after Cameron Norrie and Harriet Dart each suffered quarter-final exits earlier in the day.

British men’s No 1 Norrie was denied a maiden Eastbourne semi-final by a 7-5 7-5 defeat to world No 60 Cressy, while Dart was outclassed by two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, losing 6-3 6-4.

American third seed Taylor Fritz will meet Australian Alex De Minaur in the other men’s semi-final following their respective wins over Alexander Bublik (6-3 6-2) and Tommy Paul (6-2 4-6 6-4).

In the women’s competition, an elbow injury for Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko led to Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia going through to face Kvitova.

Reigning champion

Jelena Ostapenko will play Camila Giorgi in the other half of the draw. The Latvian overcame Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 6-2, while Italian Giorgi defeated Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-1.

● Serena Williams’ return to tennis in Eastbourne has been cut short after doubles partner Ons Jabeur withdrew from the tournament because of a knee injury.

Williams has played her first two competitive matches at the Rothesay International since limping out of Wimbledon in tears last summer with a hamstring problem.

Williams and Tunisian Jabeur made it through to the semi-finals with a narrow victory over Maria Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo and then a more convincing one against Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching.

Williams, unseeded at Wimbledon, will find out who she faces in the first round when the draw is made today.

FIERY: Jack Draper, the last Briton standing at Eastbourne, compared his personality to that of three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray.