Jack Draper returns to the ATP Tour this week at the Winston-Salem Open after spending two months sidelined by a shoulder injury. The British lefty sustained the injury in his opening match at Roland Garros in May, forcing him to miss the grass swing.

“At the French Open I hurt my shoulder. I thought it was quite insignificant at the time but when I came back preparing for the grass it turned out it was a bit of a tear that went into my tendon, so I had to take about a month and a half out,” Draper told ATPTour.com ahead of the ATP 250 event.

“A tear in my shoulder isn’t the best. It didn’t take too long, but still one month to two months out of the Tour, so I am trying to come back and stay injury free from now.”

Draper reached the semi-finals at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Winnipeg last week in his first tournament back. The 21-year-old is eager to increase his match load in the coming weeks, but stressed the importance of managing expectations.

“I think with these sorts of injuries, especially the tendons, you need to be careful with them,” said Draper, who also missed large periods of the 2021 season with injury. “It takes time and you have to rehab them properly. I wouldn’t say I am completely out of the woods, I have to keep on doing the right things for it and hopefully it will be ok and keep improving week by week.

“I didn’t serve for about a month and a half after I did it. I am sort of getting my rhythm back on my serve. Last week I played my first tournament back and hit quite a few double faults, so I am trying to get my confidence back in my body and my tennis. Hopefully this week in Winston-Salem I can do that.”

Draper is currently No. 123 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but rose as high as No. 38 in January. The Briton enjoyed a breakthrough 2022 season, winning four Challenger Tour titles, advancing to the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal and the semi-finals in Eastbourne. He also reached the last four at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals.

The 21-year-old lefty is hoping to use that experience to climb again.

“Last year I had a great year and brought that confidence into this year,” Draper said. “But now I have had so much time off the court, it is almost like I have a fresh start. I have got to build my momentum and confidence all over again and that is fine because this is sport. There are ups and downs, but I am trying to build up that confidence in practice and with my coach and hopefully week by week I can keep improving.”

Since Draper’s injury, the young stars on the ATP Tour have hit the headlines. The 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz clinched the Wimbledon title, while Jannik Sinner lifted his maiden Masters 1000 trophy in Toronto. Holger Rune advanced to the quarter-finals at majors in Paris and London, before jumping to a career-high No. 5 this week.
The Briton has followed their recent success and revealed it has provided him with further motivation.

“I think there are a lot of amazing young players doing well on Tour. They are really getting to new heights, achieving every week. It is really motivating to watch them and see them as a benchmark,” Draper said. “Hopefully I can be there soon if I put in right the work and do all the right things for my body and my tennis.”

While Draper may dream of future title runs, for now, his aims for 2023 are simple.

“It is about staying consistently on the court,” Draper said. “I have only played six to seven tournaments this year. It has been a real challenge just to get the fitness right and stay on the tennis court. My number one goal is to stay injury free as I know my tennis is good enough when I stay on court to do well.”

Draper, who is 10-7 on the season, highlighted by a fourth-round run in Indian Wells, will face Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the first round in Winston-Salem.

Novak Djokovic on Friday evening became the second player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, joining Carlos Alcaraz at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 12-19 November. Djokovic guaranteed his spot at the season finale when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals.

The Serbian has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals 16 times, tied for third-most qualifications in tournament history with Jimmy Connors. Djokovic has only failed to earn his place in the prestigious event once since 2007 (in 2017).

🚨Qualified 🚨@DjokerNole has punched his ticket to the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin 🥊#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/cv2OHUXsNq

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 19, 2023

One year ago, Djokovic tied Roger Federer’s record of six Nitto ATP Finals trophies. He will now have the opportunity to take the record by himself in Italy.

Djokovic has largely dominated at the majors this season, winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros, while also reaching the Wimbledon final, where only Alcaraz was able to stop him. The 36-year-old owns a 36-5 record in 2023, including an 8-3 record against Top 10 opposition.

A three-time titlist this season — he also triumphed in Adelaide — Djokovic is in contention to claim a record-extending eighth ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour. He is second behind only Alcaraz in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Djokovic will try to improve on his 46-17 record at the Nitto ATP Finals, where only Federer (59-17) has more match wins. The 36-year-old has advanced to at least the semi-finals at the season finale in 11 of his previous 15 appearances.

After improving to 19-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Gael Monfils on Thursday, Novak Djokovic made it a perfect 7-0 against Taylor Fritz with a victory against the home favourite on Friday night at the Western & Southern Open.

The Serbian dominated early and late in a 6-0, 6-4 win against the American, battling back from an early break deficit in set two to advance to the Cincinnati semi-finals. The World No. 2 will next face Alexander Zverev on Saturday.

“Every match is a new match, a new challenge for both of us,” Djokovic said of his perfect record against Fritz. “We never faced each other here. Obviously being the No. 1 American, he gets a lot of crowd support.

“I just managed to get off the blocks really strong, played an almost perfect, flawless first set. Then I started off really poorly in the second and handed him the break, but from 2-4 down I played really four solid games in the second. Just overall a great performance.”

Djokovic could reclaim the top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this week if he wins the Cincinnati title and current No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz loses to Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-finals.

Playing in his first tournament on U.S. soil since 2021, Djokovic is bidding for his third title at the Western & Southern Open (2018, 2020) and a record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 singles crown. By reaching his 75th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, he moved within one of Rafael Nadal’s record at the prestigious level.

Most ATP Masters 1000 SFs

Against Fritz, the Serbian won an extraordinary opening set in just 21 minutes, but then double faulted twice to start set two and found himself behind 0-2. From 2-4, the Serbian rediscovered his peak form to race through the final four games and into the semis in just over an hour.

With crisp ball-striking throughout, Djokovic dominated the baseline rallies and never allowed Fritz to stamp his authority on the match with his powerful backcourt game. Outside of a brief purple patch at the start of the second set, the American could not produce his best tennis in the face of Djokovic’s relentless prodding.

The Serbian, who has not lost more than four games in a set in his three wins this week, continues to raise his level with each match.

“That’s something I’m wishing for, that every day I raise the bar slightly more, the level of tennis,” he said. “That’s what’s happening during the tournament. I played three great matches and each day has been a better feeling on the court overall. So hopefully the same trajectory can continue.”

Fritz’s defeat saw him fall to 3-6 in ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals. He was stopped short in his bid to become the first American champion in Cincinnati since Andy Roddick in 2006.

Alexander Zverev extended his perfect Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Adrian Mannarino to 8-0 with a comfortable victory on Friday night at the Western & Southern Open. Zverev cruised through a 6-2, 6-3 win in just one hour, 12 minutes to set up a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic or Taylor Fritz.

“I feel like the matches that we played, we had a lot of tough battles. I’ve always played him at tournaments when I’ve been playing well,” Zverev said of his unblemished record against the Frenchman.

“I know I have a pretty big game and when I’m feeling well on the court, there’s just a lot of things I can do. That was maybe the reason. If I would have played him at a tournament where I’m not feeling well, if I’m not playing well, he’s beaten a lot of great players in his career. It’s just more about the days that I’ve played him.”

The result also stretched Zverev’s Cincinnati winning streak to eight matches following an 0-6 start in the Queen City, with the German back at the ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since he won the 2021 title. After winning his first ATP Tour crown since the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals last month on home soil in Hamburg, Zverev is now through to his first Masters 1000 semi-final since the ankle injury he suffered last year at Roland Garros.

The 26-year-old’s quarter-final win lifted him two places into the all-important eighth spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, though Fritz could reclaim the position with a win against Djokovic later on Friday evening. Zverev is also up five places this week to No. 12 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, and will re-enter the Top 10 with the Cincinnati title.

“My tennis is coming along quite well,” he said of his recent form. “Obviously it was very important for me after Toronto, where I had a really bad week, to come out here and compete and play some good tennis. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals here.”

The German dominated Mannarino from the start, racing out to a 3-0 lead in both sets and never facing a break point. His most stressful service game came in the final game of the match, when he escaped 15/30 with three unreturned serves. Mannarino did not produce a single winner in the opening set in the face of Zverev’s aggressive game, and while the Frenchman improved in set two, it was never enough to trouble his 16th-seeded opponent.

The win continues a strong week for Zverev, who recorded his first Top 10 win of the season on Thursday against World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus toughed out a narrow victory Friday to reach the Western & Southern Open semi-finals.

The British-Kiwi duo defeated Italian wild cards Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(5), 7-6(7) after one hour, 59 minutes. Murray and Venus saved a set point in each set to reach the last four, where they will meet sixth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin after the Mexican-French team stopped home hopes Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton 7-5, 6-7(5), 11-9 in front of a jam-packed Court 3.

Murray and Venus, who are aiming for their fourth tour-level title of the season, defeated Serbians Nikola Cacic and Novak Djokovic in the opening round before upsetting Wimbledon champions Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. Should they capture their maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown as a team, Murray and Venus would rise inside the Top 8 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, strengthening their bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

In other doubles action, Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni cruised past Nikola Mektic and John Peers 6-4, 6-4 after winning 31 of their 35 first-serve points. They will face second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek or Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev in the last four.

Carlos Alcaraz survived another three-set test at the Western & Southern Open on Friday, when he ended Australian qualifier Max Purcell’s dream run in Cincinnati.

After clawing past Jordan Thompson and Tommy Paul in deciding sets in his first two rounds, the World No. 1 was made to battle again in his quarter-final clash against Purcell, earning a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in two hours and 11 minutes.

“It was really tough. It was tricky today. He served really well. I think he played well at the net, but I think I played well. I returned well on court and that was the key to getting the win today, to return very well and to focus,” Alcaraz said. “It was not easy but I am really, really happy to reach my seventh Masters 1000 semi-final and first here in Cincinnati.”

Alcaraz is now two wins away from capturing his third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season, while he improved to 52-5 on the year. The top seed is the only player to have earned more than 50 tour-level wins in 2023, with second-placed Daniil Medvedev recording 49.

Alcaraz, who triumphed at Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Madrid earlier this year, holds a 22-3 record at this level in 2023. The Wimbledon champion will continue the quest for his seventh title of the year when he faces Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-finals on Saturday. Alcaraz overcame Hurkacz in three sets in Toronto last week.

“It was a tough match in Toronto,” Alcaraz said. “He is playing great tennis here and the court is a little bit faster than Toronto, so it is probably better for his game with his big serve. I need to be focused on return to put as much as I can in court.”

In hot conditions in Ohio on Friday, the 20-year-old survived an attacking bombardment from Purcell, who was competing in his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final. The Australian approached the net 61 times, heaping pressure on Alcaraz, who was forced to conjure up a series of stunning passes to stay alive.

Purcell started fast and deservedly led, but was unable to maintain his level against Alcaraz, with the top seed raising his intensity and speed around the court to fend off a spirited display from the 25-year-old. The World No. 1 recovered from squandering a break advantage in the third set, finding the toes of the Australian in the latter stages of the match to advance.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz is chasing a double prize this week in Cincinnati, where the battle for No. 1 is alive. If the Spaniard advances to his eighth final of the season, he is guaranteed to remain atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for a 34th week on Monday. If he fails to reach the championship match, Novak Djokovic would regain top spot by winning the title. The Serbian plays Taylor Fritz in the last eight.

Purcell, who upset World No. 7 Casper Ruud in the second round, is up 23 spots to No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Last week the Australian overcame then-World No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime in Toronto.

Did You Know?
Alcaraz has spent eight hours and 22 minutes on court across his three matches in Cincinnati.

Hubert Hurkacz defied a remarkable late charge from Alexei Popyrin on Friday at the Western & Southern Open to complete a 6-1, 7-6(8) quarter-final triumph in Cincinnati.

The World No. 20 Hurkacz held five match points at 6/1 in the second-set tie-break before Popyrin reeled off seven straight points to bring up a set point of his own on centre court at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Hurkacz was able to overcome his late wobble, however, winning four of the next five points to complete a 77-minute victory and book a semi-final clash with top seed Carlos Alcaraz or qualifier Max Purcell.

Hurkacz had expertly capitalised on a nervous start by lucky loser Popyrin, who was competing in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final. Despite finding his feet after Hurkacz had raced to the opening set, Popyrin was unable to make an impact in return games. The Pole did not drop a break point and lost just nine points behind serve overall to extend his Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against Popyrin to 3-0.

“I’m really happy, especially with the way I played the first set,” said Hurkacz. “I was returning really well. Alexei raised his level and was serving really good throughout that second set, I just got to the tie-breaker. I got off to a good start, and then Alexei played some good points, but fortunately I battled through for that one.”