Lyon | Draper prepares for French Open

Jack Draper stormed into the quarter finals of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon – an ATP 250 event – with two excellent results including the removal of the fifth seed in preparation for next week’s French Open.

Draper, who hasn’t played on the tour since Monte Carlo last April, looked strong as he swept past Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-2 6-3 in his first match on Monday which he has now followed up by ousting Miomir Kecmanovic, the Serbian who was seeded at five, 6-4 7-5.

The first set saw the 21-year-old fall behind early to trail 2-4 after some loose play but he then quickly settled into his rhythm to take control with four consecutive games and snatch the opener.

Draper’s serve was not firing as powerfully as in the past but that didn’t seem to trouble him as his all-court game stood him in good stead.

The second set saw him serve much better but Kecmanovic remained solid as well which is why Draper had to wait until the 12th game to finally raise a break point which he promptly converted to finish off the match after 92-minutes having gone through the match unbroken and delivered six aces..

In the quarters he will face the fourth seed, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who was handed his place in the last eight when Spain’s Juan Pablo Varillas retired after dropping the first set 6-2.

A win for the Brit could pitch him into a battle with the second seed, his compatriot Cameron Norrie, who gets his campaign underway Wednesday against Belgian veteran David Goffin.

In other second round action, eighth seed Brandon Nakashima of the US required two-hours and 42-minutes to clear Frenchman Arthur Rinderknecht 7-6(5) 1-6 7-5.