Britain’s Jack Draper is into the third ATP final of his career – and the first on grass – after breezing past unseeded American Brandon Nakashima at the Stuttgart Open.
The 22-year-old sixth seed, who beat defending champion Frances Tiafoe, of the USA, in the quarter-finals, hit 13 aces and 35 winners in a 6-3 6-3 victory.
Draper will move up to 32nd in the world, no matter what happens in Sunday’s final, and into a potential seeded position for Wimbledon, which starts on 1 July.
He will be confirmed as the British number one on Monday, moving above Cameron Norrie, and is now one match away from a first singles title on the elite men’s tour.
Draper will meet either Italian fifth-seed Lorenzo Musetti or former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in Sundays’ final.
Berretini is unseeded in the tournament after slipping to 95 in the world rankings following a series of injuries, but the Italian is a two-time former winner in Stuttgart and has claimed four of his eight career titles on grass.
