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Norrie, Draper march to victory, Evans eliminated from Adelaide

Norrie, Draper march to victory, Evans eliminated from Adelaide
© Reuters
Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper both pick up victories for Great Britain on Wednesday, but Dan Evans's run at the Adelaide International comes to an end.

Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper both picked up victories for Great Britain on Wednesday, but Dan Evans's run at the Adelaide International came to an end.

Draper made his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the year with an enthralling 5-7 7-6[9] 7-6[7] comeback victory over Miomir Kecmanovic, before Norrie sunk French youngster Luca Van Assche 6-3 6-7[6] 6-1 at the ASB Classic.

Evans was last up for GB in Adelaide, but the British number two could not make it a perfect trio of successes for his nation, going down 6-4 2-6 1-6 to Alexander Bublik in the last 16.

Draper and Kecmanovic boasted one victory over each other from the 2023 season, but the former was gifted an immediate break by his Serbian foe, who double-faulted at the most inopportune time in his service game.

Draper was then forced to save three break points in his opening service game, but Kecmnaovic still levelled matters straight away before taking advantage of some unforced errors from Draper to earn another set-winning break in the 12th game.

Cameron Norrie in action at the Davis Cup on September 17, 2023© Reuters

The 24-year-old quickly went a set and a break up, only to be pegged back by Draper straight away, and the British number four would remarkably save two match points in a pivotal tie-breaker to force a winner-takes-all third set.

After saving all three break points he faced in the opening 12 games, Draper produced another astonishing recovery from 4-1 and 5-2 down in the final tie-breaker, closing the contest with his 42nd winner of the day to set up a last-four meeting with the USA's Tommy Paul.

Meanwhile, Norrie was also taken to three sets in his Auckland battle with 19-year-old Frenchman Van Assche, who had lost to the British number one in straight sets during the first round of last year's Australian Open but handed him a few more scares this time around.

Norrie kept the teenager at arm's length in the first set, where a break in the sixth game did the trick, but he squandered three chances to repeat the trick after the opener and had to save two set points just to force a tie-breaker.

Van Assche held his nerve to ensure that the match would go the distance, and Norrie had to do it the hard way as he lost serve straight away in the third set, but the world number 19 fought back with a vengeance, winning the next six games on the bounce to advance to a quarter-final against Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo.

Dan Evans reacts at the Shanghai Masters on October 9, 2023© Reuters

Back over in Adelaide, Evans would have been on a collision course to meet compatriot Draper in the semi-finals had he navigated his way past Bublik, who had prevailed in three of the previous four meetings between the pair.

The world number 40 started strongly against the big-serving Bublik, who was left to lament three double faults in his opening service game as Evans broke straight away, although the Kazakhstani bit back immediately.

Another serving error in the fifth game would prove to be Bublik's downfall, but after a pair of holds for both men in the second set, the world number 31 won four games on the spin to keep the match alive.

Despite a valiant effort from Evans, the British number two ran out of steam in the third set, and despite producing a staggering 13 double faults throughout the contest, Bublik found the mark when it mattered most, sealing victory with a sensational four successive aces.

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Written by
Ben Knapton

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