Battling Jack Draper bids for a second title of 2024 when he takes on seven-time tour-level champion Karen Khachanov in Sunday's Vienna Open championship match.
The British No. 1 claimed his first career success in Stuttgart this year, but he faces an in-form opponent seeking back-to-back titles after a recent victory in Almaty.
Match preview
© Imago
You wonder how much Draper has in the tank after battling more physical issues in his 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lorenzo Musetti in Saturday's semi-final.
The Briton looked out on his feet in his three-set victory over Tomas Machac in the quarters and appeared exhausted after the Italian broke to level the second set at 4-4.
Undaunted by Musetti's late surge to even the second from 4-2 down, Draper dug deep to break right back and served out the match to progress to a fourth ATP Tour title match and first at an ATP 500 event.
The US Open semi-finalist has put his Davis Cup setbacks behind him and is flourishing after returning from the abdominal issue that forced him out of last month's Japan Open against Ugo Humbert to advance to this week's decider.
Having notched victory in his previous match-up against Khachanov in Adelaide last January, an improved Draper, set to move into the top 15 on Monday, will back himself to secure back-to-back wins over the Russian.
© Imago
However, standing in his way is a player whose expertise on this surface is highlighted in all seven Tour titles coming on hard courts.
Already successful in last week's event in Almaty, Khachanov enters Sunday's title match 8-0 in recent indoor matches and aims to improve to 9-0 at the British player's expense.
Having had to come through three-setters in the previous week's ATP 250 event, the world No. 24 has raised his level in Vienna, with only Brandon Nakashima taking a set off the 28-year-old player.
Fresh off only his second triumph over a top-10 opponent to beat Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4, Khachanov bids for a third title this season to emulate his 2018 season when he clinched commendable triumphs in Marseille, Moscow and the Paris Masters.
With four of the Russian player's seven titles coming in indoor courts, the former world No. 8 hopes previous experience propels him to victory in Sunday's ATP 500 battle.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Kei Nishikori 7-6(5) 7-5
Second round: Luciano Darderi 7-5 6-1
Quarter-final: vs. Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 6-1
Semi-final: vs. Lorenzo Musetti 6-2 6-4
Karen Khachanov:
First round: vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-2 6-4
Second round: vs. Brandon Nakashima 1-6 6-3 6-4
Quarter-final: vs. Matteo Berrettini 6-1 6-4
Semi-final: vs. Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-4
Head To Head
Adelaide 2 (2023) - Quarter-final: Draper 6-4 7-6(3)
Adelaide 1 (2023) - Round of 16: Khachanov 6-4 6-2
US Open (2022) - Third round: Khachanov 6-3 4-6 6-5 ret
All three previous meetings have been on hard courts, with Khachanov 2-1 in his head-to-head with Draper.
However, their US Open third-round match was still in the balance before the Briton withdrew, and the 22-year-old enters their fourth meeting having claimed their last encounter.
Draper's 1-2 record in title matches is significantly inferior to Khachanov's 7-2, with the Russian 3-0 this year in recent deciders.
We say: Khachanov to win in three sets
Despite Draper's unmistakable improvement this year, it is hard to look beyond Khachanov's expertise on the surface, and we are backing the 28-year-old to secure a third tour-level victory over the Briton, who looked shot physically in Saturday's last-four victory.
