UTS players shine in Paris as Draper, Humbert make round of 16

Several UTS players are making deep runs at the Paris Masters, with Jack Draper (‘The Power’) and Ugo Humbert (‘The Commander’) both impressing on Wednesday.
Draper, who won the UTS Grand Final in London last year, upset fellow UTS star Taylor Fritz (‘The Hotshot’) in a gritty three-set clash.
The victory was The Power’s fourth top-10 victory from his last five clashes against tennis’ elite, with Draper’s serve and defence getting him across the line in a tight 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 affair.
“I competed really well. My tennis wasn’t great but that’s the [fast] conditions,” said Draper, who hit 53 unforced errors and 38 winners over the two-hour, 22-minute match.
“I don’t think anyone is finding it easy to play. Not a lot of rallies, the court’s incredibly fast so it’s tough to hit really good groundstrokes and be consistent.
“But I looked after my serve, I tried my hardest, I competed really well and I got over the line against a top‑10 player so I’m feeling really happy with that.”
The Brit will now face yet another UTS player in the round of 16, with Alex de Minaur (‘The Demon’) waiting in a high-stakes clash. The Aussie is looking to overtake Andrey Rublev in the Race to Turin with a win over Draper, while The Power keeps his own ATP Finals hopes alive as long as his run in Paris continues.
Keeping him company in the third round is Humbert, who raced past American Marcos Giron in less than an hour on Wednesday to book a blockbuster against second seed Carlos Alcaraz.
The Commander is one of five Frenchman in the round of 16 in Paris, the first time since 2009 that as many natives have made it this far.
Other results from Wednesday at the Paris Masters include Holger Rune (‘The Viking’) extending his Paris record to 10-1 with a win over fellow UTS veteran Alexander Bublik (‘The Bublik Enemy’), while Grigor Dimitrov (‘G-Unit’) also prevailed, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (9), 6-3, 7-5.
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