Jack Draper finishes runner-up in Sofia Open final
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Britain’s Jack Draper finished an impressive week at the Sofia Open as runner-up to France’s Adrian Mannarino – losing a close final 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3.
Playing in his first ATP final, the young Brit fell a break behind in the deciding set, and despite holding 15-40 lead on the Frenchman’s serve in the final game, Mannarino came back to force his way to a fifth career title in two hours and 17 minutes.
Despite coming up short in the final match, there are plenty of positives for the 21-year-old Brit to take away from the week.
Draper became the youngest Briton to make an ATP final since Andy Murray in 2009 – all without dropping a set in his opening four matches.
Having eased past Maximillian Marterer in the opening round, Draper then knocked out top seed Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-2 to make the quarter-finals. Another strong win over Turkey’s Cem Ilkel, the young Brit added another win against a top 30 ranked player, beating third seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 to make his final debut.
Coming off the back off a fifth ATP Challenger title in Bergamo and now a final at the Sofia Open, Draper is set to join up with the Lexus GB Davis Cup team in fine form ahead of their all-important quarter-final clash with Serbia on Thursday 23 November.
In the doubles, Julian Cash also finished runner-up with Croatian partner Nikola Mektic to Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 3-6, 13-11.
