Draper gets stitched up to the Max

JACK DRAPER’S dreams of a maiden ATP Tour final were extinguished by an agonising three-set defeat by Maxime Cressy at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne yesterday.

In a tense encounter involving just a single break of serve, world No.60 Cressy continued his British conquest to edge through 7-6 6-7 6-3.

The France-born American defeated Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans in the previous rounds.

Tournament debutant Draper (above) was playing in his first semifinal at this level and bidding to become the first British man to reach the singles final at Devonshire Park.

Cressy said: ”Ater I took the physio time out in the second set at 5-4 down, it really made me feel better. Physically I feel like I can do another battle right now!

“I started playing serve and volley when I was 14, and I was watching a lot of Pete Sampras tapes.

“I had so many serve and volleyers that I looked up to, and I never gave up on it – I had reasons to give up, but I didn’t.

“When I started serve and volleying, the goal was always to win Wimbledon.”

Backed by a partisan crowd, 20-year-old Draper acquitted himself well against an aggressive opponent with a deadly serve and an equally potent volley.

Although Draper pulled out all the stops he could, at the end of a gruelling day he could not deny Cressy, who will face compatriot Taylor Fritz in the final of the pre-Wimbledon tournament.