The best of Britain continued their late-season progress, as Jack Draper and Katie Boulter reached the semi-finals in Vienna and Toyko respectively.
British No1 Boulter’s win was the more eye-catching, a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
And 9,000 kilometres to the West, Boulter’s opposite number on the men’s side beat Czech Tomas Machac, a fellow rising star, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Both will each play on Saturday for a place in their third final of the year.
Boulter has won both of those previous title matches, in San Diego and Nottingham, and will be favourite in her Japan Open semi-final against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Like Kenin, Andreescu has been creeping back to her best form this season but Boulter blew her off the court. ‘I played really well today,’ said the world No33. ‘I just wanted to come out and enjoy it. Everything was clicking, everything was really good.’
Jack Draper has returned to winning ways to reach the semi-final of the Vienna Open
British No1 Katie Boulter similarly won big in Tokyo, reaching the semi-final of the Japan Open
At the Erste Bank Open, Draper had a less easy time of things but eventually took care of Machac, whom he also beat en-route to the US Open semi-finals last month.
‘The first set was really physical, it’s always tough playing Tomas,’ said the 22-year-old, who next faces either Italian Lorenzo Musetti or German No1 seed Alexander Zverev.
‘The second set was more of a mental battle. I felt like my energy just dropped, my decision making became a bit up and down.
‘I knew I had to reset – at this level you can’t get away with spending too long in that situation. Really proud of the way dug in; I didn’t feel my best today.’
Draper’s win marks a dramatic return to form after his heroics at the US Open last month
Boulter (left) put in a highly impressive display to beat 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu (right) 6-2, 6-1 in Tokyo
This feels like a significant week for Draper. After his dream run in New York he flopped in the Davis Cup in Manchester and then suffered an abdominal injury when going well in Tokyo.
That forced him out of the Shanghai Masters and it looked as though he might be unable to back up his US Open semi-final with a strong end to the season.
But after this victory he will climb to at least No17 in the world, a career high, and should head into the final Masters event of the season in Paris next week with confidence.
