Tennis Rolex Paris Masters Men's Singles -

ATP Paris Masters: Jack Draper's run ended in last 16 by Alex de Minaur comeback, Brit labelled a 'hell of a competitor'

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Jack Draper has played his final professional tennis match of the season, after being knocked out of the ATP Paris Masters by Alex de Minaur. The Australian triumphed 5-7 6-2 6-3 as Draper's collapse saw him smash his racquet on the court in a deflating deciding set. De Minaur moves up to eighth in the race for the ATP Tour Finals in Turin with the win, while Draper's slim hopes were put to bed.

Highlights as De Minaur beats Draper at Paris Masters

Video credit: SNTV

Jack Draper's breakout tennis season is over after the Brit lost in three sets to Alex de Minaur in the last 16 of the ATP Paris Masters.

With a sliver of a chance to make the ATP Tour Finals in Turin resting on his ability to get past the ninth seed, Draper started brightly, taking the first set 7-5.

But the Australian roared back, closing out the match with relative ease 6-2 6-3, to keep his own hopes of a wondrous season finale alive.

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With the win, De Minaur rose to eighth in the race for Turin, leapfrogging Andrey Rublev, though fellow challengers Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov can still add to their ranking points before the week is out.

“You can never say ‘job done’ in the middle of a tournament, that’s not in my DNA,” De Minaur told the ATP Tour on his chances of reaching the Finals.

He continued: “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.”

For Draper, the deflating loss was his first after seven straight wins, his latest defeat coming in Tokyo at the end of September.

The frustration of letting his lead slip got the better of the Englishman when De Minaur broke serve at the start of the decider.

Draper endured jeers from the crowd when he smashed his racquet on the court twice, but his exasperation was warranted.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Having grasped his final opportunity to avoid a tie-break in the first set with a last-gasp break, the Vienna Open winner found himself broken three times without reply by the time his equipment succumbed to the unforgiving hard court.

And though he soon responded with a hard-fought break of his own, De Minaur immediately hit back with a stunning love-break to take control of the third set.

A double-fault in the final game summed up Draper's evening, his fifth of the contest to De Minaur's one, and the 22-year-old will surely rue a disappointing 25 unforced errors.

De Minaur will face the winner of home favourite Arthur Cazaux's clash with Holger Rune in Friday's quarter-finals.

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