Draper eliminates defending champion Tiafoe

Briton prevails in 3 hard-fought sets against the US-American after rain interruption. Struff had to withdraw before his match due to illness.

The quarter-final day at the BOSS OPEN at Weissenhof in Stuttgart started with a small surprise. After losing the first set, Britain's Jack Draper prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (1) against last year's American winner Frances Tiafoe.

Despite 9 aces for Draper, the first set went to the experienced American. Tiafoe used one of only 2 break chances to make it 6-5 and then served out the set. Right at the start of the second set, the match had to be interrupted briefly due to rain. The tide turned after the restart. Draper continued to improve his serve, hitting a total of 31 aces and not allowing any more break chances. In return, the Brit managed the break to make it 6-4. The deciding set finally went to a tie-break, where Draper clearly prevailed 7-1.

In the semi-finals, Draper will face the American Brandon Nakashima, who advanced to the next round without a fight because Jan-Lennard Struff was unable to play in his quarter-final due to illness. "He's an incredibly good young player, I think he's the same age as me. He plays exciting tennis and is on his way back up after many injuries last year."

Berrettini meets Musetti in the semis

Meanwhile, two-time Stuttgart winner Matteo Berrettini (ITA) extended his impressive Weissenhof series to 12-1 victories. The Roman defeated Australian James Duckworth 6-4, 7-5. In the first set, Berrettini managed the break to 3-2, in the second set he took the Australian's service to go up 6-5 and then served out safely. After 87 minutes, he converted the match point with his 13th ace.

Berrettini was satisfied with his performance: "It was a solid match, especially the serve. I don't think Duckworth had a single break point." Berrettini answered what makes him so successful on grass: "You'd have to ask my opponents. But I think the service, my slice and the aggressive game, which is so important on grass."

In the semi-finals, he will now meet his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti, who benefited from the retirement of his opponent Alexander Bublik (KAZ) at 4:6, 6:1, 1:0 from the Italian's point of view.