While Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season, Jiri Lehecka bulldozed everything in his path. After over two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz.
Draper, who will nonetheless be among the top four seeds at Wimbledon as a result of this run, had been struggling with his game and apparent illness this week and revealed he had been diagnosed with tonsillitis. Draper competed admirably during the tournament, digging deep to find a way through two tough three-set wins over Alexei Popyrin and Brandon Nakashima before putting himself in position to compete for a first grass-court title. He ends with a crushing result.
“I’m obviously very gutted,” said Draper. “I gave myself a chance. I could have been out there tomorrow. This is a tournament I have watched since I was young and always really motivated to come here. It hurts a bit more because it’s at home. It isn’t the big one, but every match I lose, I take it really hard.”
As Draper’s hopes of competing for his first title on home soil faded in the form of a searing backhand down-the-line winner from Lehecka that secured the decisive break in the third set, his emotions finally boiled over. Draper pounded his racket into the LED screen on the side of the court, temporarily disabling a small rectangular part of the screen. In addition to cracking his racket, Draper grazed his knee. Coincidentally, the screen had been showing an advertisement for Dunlop, his racket sponsor, before it turned black.
Draper made no excuses about his tendency to sometimes lose his composure in the heat of battle, but he views it as a part of his intense competitive nature: “When you’re not feeling great, when your energy is really low, you use everything you can to get yourself up,” he said. “I’m almost getting angry to get fired up. When you do that, when you give everything you have, not just in tennis, like in anything, you’re a bit less mellow and playing a bit more on a tightrope. So when you try your best and things don’t go your way, it’s easy to spill over. That’s what happened.
“I don’t want to behave like that, but that’s just the way I am as a competitor. Sometimes I just play on a bit of a tightrope. I don’t want to be behaving like that.”
Before the semi-finals, Lehecka had been the most impressive performer this week, defeating the fifth seed, Alex de Minaur, in the opening round and then rolling through the rest of the draw. His massive first serve and clean, destructive forehand dominated the first hour of the match. In the decisive final moments deep in the final set, Lehecka outserved Draper and dictated from the baseline.
Although Draper fought impressively and served well to turn the match around, he has struggled with his forehand throughout the week meaning once he lost his service rhythm in his final two service games, he was vulnerable. When Draper revealed his tonsillitis diagnosis he said he had simply been outplayed.
“Today’s probably the worst I have felt,” said Draper. “Did I think about withdrawing? No, not at all. I’m in the semi-finals at Queen’s. I’d probably go on court with a broken leg. I wouldn’t have pulled out for anything. So I went out there, gave all I had, and I can be very proud of that.”
Emma Raducanu has been handed a testing draw at the Eastbourne Open, where she is expected to make a return after managing a back problem that has troubled the British No 1 since she competed in Strasbourg last month, before the French Open.
The 2021 US Open champion took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss to Zheng Qinwen at Queen's Club last week, after which it was confirmed she would miss this week's Berlin Open, having been offered a wildcard.
Seeded seventh in the draw for Eastbourne, Raducanu has been drawn against the American Ann Li in the first round, with the two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur her likely second-round opponent. Daria Kasatkina, the Australian world No 16 and last year's Eastbourne winner, is a potential quarter-final opponent.
Dayana Yastremska beat Magda Linette of Poland to secure a place in the final of the Nottingham Open, where she will play McCartney Kessler.
The Ukrainian Yastremska, who had knocked out former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the last eight, came through 6-4, 6-4 after a rain delay during the second set to make a first grass-court final of her career.
Once the weather eventually cleared later in the afternoon, Kessler needed just over an hour to beat Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in straight sets. The American had beaten Britain's Katie Boulter, the defending champion, in the quarter-finals and maintained her momentum with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the world No 38.
The former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova upset Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, to reach the final of the Berlin Open. The unseeded Vondrousova came through 6-2, 6-4 against Sabalenka to progress to a first final since her victory at SW19 in 2023. The Czech, who has been working her way back from shoulder surgery, has seen her ranking drop to 164th. "I didn't play for a long time. I am just happy to be back healthy, and so grateful to play these matches," Vondrousova said on the WTA Tour website."When I saw the field here, I was like: 'OK, let's just try to win the first round,' and then, you know, now this is happening."
The 25-year-old will play Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu in the final. The world No 49 beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 to make her first WTA singles final. PA
While Draper rued a painful missed opportunity, Alcaraz continues to enjoy an ideal week as he tries to adapt to the grass. The French Open champion, who was watched for much of the match by his new mixed doubles partner, Emma Raducanu, produced his best performance of the week here to return to the final with a 6-4, 6-4 win over his veteran countryman Roberto Bautista Agut.
After struggling with his serve throughout his marathon second-round win against Jaume Munar, Alcaraz served 15 aces against Bautista Agut and struck his forehand brilliantly. He has now won 17 matches in a row and he will attempt to win his third consecutive title after victories at the Italian Open and Roland Garros.
