Draper pushed to Max as run is ended
JACK Draper’s dreams of a maiden ATP Tour final were extinguished following an agonising three-set loss to Maxime Cressy at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
In a tense encounter containing just a single a break of serve, world number 60 Cressy continued his conquering of the homegrown players to edge through 7-6 (5) 6-7 (2) 6-3.
The France-born American, who defeated Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans in the previous rounds, will face either 2019 winner Taylor Fritz or reigning champion Alex De Minaur in Saturday’s final.
A run to the last-four means Draper will return to the top 100 next week, ahead of his Wimbledon opener against Belgian wildcard Zizou Bergs.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova will play defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the women’s draw following their respective straight-set wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Camila Giorgi earlier on Friday.
Kvitova was in fine form as she recorded a straight-set victory over the in-form Haddad Maia, winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
The 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion ended the Brazilian world number 29’s hopes of winning a third successive tournament following her triumphs in Birmingham and Nottingham earlier this month.
Former French Open champion Ostapenko became only the third wildcard to win the Eastbourne title last year.
Seeded eighth this time around, the Latvian 25-year-old overpowered Italian Giorgi in a 6-2 6-2 victory.
n Stefanos Tsitsipas was delighted to reach his first Tourlevel
final on grass at the Mallorca Championships. Tsitsipas overcame Benjamin Bonzi 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes to set up a final date with Roberto Bautista Agut.
“It was a good match. I am very happy,” second seed Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.
“I have played a final a week before a Grand Slam before. It was the year I made the final at Roland Garros, in Lyon.
“It worked out pretty well to have that final and consistency of matches. It is different this time. We are talking about a different surface, so we will see.”
Frenchman Bonzi had not dropped a set en route to the semi-finals but Tsitsipas dictated the contest with his aggressive forehand and the Greek now has a Tour-leading 39 wins this season.
Spaniard Bautista Agut booked his final spot with a 7-6 (5) 6-2 victory over Swiss qualifier Antoine Bellier.