Britain’s Jack Draper continued his encouraging Australian Open build-up by beating top seed Tommy Paul to reach the Adelaide International semi-finals.
His 6-1 6-4 win over American Paul set up a meeting with Kazakh Alexander Bublik for a place in the final.
There was also a morale-boosting victory for Andy Murray, who beat Dominic Thiem in an exhibition match for his first victory of 2024.
The 6-4 6-2 win comes before the year’s opening Grand Slam starts on Sunday.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray was knocked out in the first round of the Brisbane International last week and lost to Marin Cilic at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event on Wednesday.
The Scot, 36, told BBC Sport a fortnight ago that this year could be his final one on the tour if it proved to be as challenging as the end to last season, where he won just two matches in his final five events.
Murray has been drawn against 30th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina in the first round of the Australian Open, the tournament where he has been a beaten finalist on five occasions.
Draper ‘impressed’ with performance
British number four Draper needed only one hour 20 minutes to complete his victory against world number 14 Paul in Adelaide.
Having powered into a 4-0 lead, the 22-year-old broke for a third time at 5-1 to take the opening set.
Paul, who also lost to Draper in Adelaide last year, came out stronger in the second set and managed to hold serve until the Briton got the decisive break at 5-4 and secured the win in style with a superb passing shot down the line.
If Draper beats Bublik in the semi-finals, he would face American Sebastian Korda or Czech seventh seed Jiri Lehecka in the final.
“I’m really impressed with the way I came out today,” said Draper, who survived two match points to beat Miomir Kecmanovic on Wednesday.
“I knew it was going to be difficult, I played a really long match yesterday. I’m really proud of the work I’m doing, showing my physicality on court.
“Each time I play I’m proving myself to be a better player than I thought I was, so a really good match against a great player like Tommy.”
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