Erste Bank Open
Final LIVE from 2 p.m.: Draper against Khachanov
The winner of the €2.626 million Erste Bank Open is Jack Draper. The 22-year-old Briton defeated the unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5 after 1:35 hours in the Wiener Stadthalle on Sunday, making him the first British winner in Vienna since Andy Murray ten years ago.
Draper can look forward to a winner's cheque of 461,920 euros, leaving 248,540 for Khachanov.
"What a great week. Congratulations, Karen, you made it really difficult for me in the second set," said Draper to his opponent, against whom he has now drawn 2:2 in the head-to-head. "It's my first time in Vienna, it feels so familiar here and I hope I can play here many more times."
For the up-and-coming Draper, it was his second title this year and second ever after the one on grass in Stuttgart. The US Open semi-finalist moves up to 15th in the rankings and into the top 15 for the first time.
Draper was able to break for 2:1 in the first set and then remained unchallenged in his service games. He took the first set point to make it 6:4.
Here are the match statistics:
The second set was more turbulent in front of another sell-out crowd of 9,800 fans. Draper pulled away to 4:0 with two breaks, but with victory in sight he suddenly wobbled and Khachanov managed two re-breaks to make it 4:4. It actually went my way quite quickly. But I know Karen is a fighter and my level dropped a bit," said Draper.
But when the Russian had to give up his serve again at 5:5, Draper served out to win in two sets after fending off two break points.
Khachanov congratulated his conqueror. "You are a rising star this season and I wish you every success in the future. I'm looking forward to sharing the court with you again soon and returning the favor," said the father of two, who will improve his ranking to 21st. "When you're in the final, you want to win it, but I can't complain. The last two weeks have been great," Khachanov also recalled of his title a week ago in Almaty.
The fact that Draper is now flying to Paris as a top 15 player pleases the Brit. "The rankings are a great motivation for me, I always look at the live rankings. At the same time, you always want more - I don't play for money, I play to win and get better and better."
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