Draper defeats Musetti, to battle Ruud for title

Jack Draper

Britain's Jack Draper ousted Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Friday to set up a Madrid Open title showdown with Norwegian Casper Ruud tonight.

"I felt like both of us, our quality didn't drop from the first ball. Credit to Lorenzo, he's honestly playing so good on the clay," said Draper, who had won the Indian Wells in March and is set to enter the top five next week.

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"I've played him on the hard [courts] and on the grass in the juniors, growing up with him. But on clay he's a different beast and so, to get this win, on this court, in this stage, in the semi-finals of this competition, honestly it means so much to me."

The 23-year-old lefty fired home 20 winners against 19 unforced errors in a high-quality two-hour showdown with the Italian. Earlier, Casper Ruud had beaten Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 7-5.

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