Draper's winning streak ends with Paris defeat

Jack Draper's slim hopes of sneaking into the season-ending ATP Finals are over after his seven-match winning streak was ended in the Paris Masters third round.

The British men's number one, who won the biggest title of his career on Sunday in Vienna, was beaten 5-7 6-2 6-3 by Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur.

The defeat ended any chance of 22-year-old Draper finishing as one of the top eight players on the ATP Tour this season.

The US Open semi-finalist is unlikely to play again this season and will start turning his attentions to preparing for 2025.

He will reflect fondly on the best season of his career so far, having achieved some notable career landmarks:

• winning a first ATP Tour title in June at a 250 event in Stuttgart

• reaching a maiden Grand Slam semi-final in September at the US Open

• cracking the top 20 of the ATP world rankings after his New York exploits

• becoming only the fourth British man since 2009 to win an ATP 500 title with victory in Vienna

Draper will rise to yet another career-high of 14th in the world rankings after winning two matches at the indoor tournament in Paris.

Oozing confidence after a quick turnaround from the Austrian capital, he impressively beat Czech Jiri Lehecka and American fifth seed Taylor Fritz at the final ATP 1,000 event of the season.

• Draper out to 'shake up' world's best after key win

But his exploits over the past week appeared to take their toll against De Minaur - who Draper beat on the way to the US Open semi-finals.

On that occasion in New York, De Minaur was physically hampered and way below his best.

This time, the 25-year-old Australian was more like his energetic self.

That spelt trouble for Draper, who looked increasingly fatigued as the contest wore on.

A tight first set swung Draper's way when he broke serve for a second time in the 12th game before De Minaur sharpened up his groundstrokes.

Fewer loose returns from the world number 10 extended the rallies and drew energy from Draper, who was broken twice in a one-sided second set.

Draper's frustration was demonstrated when he obliterated his racquet after going a break down in the first game of the decider.

While the Briton showed his character to level at 2-2, De Minaur continued to play at a high level and won four of the final five games to keep alive his own hopes of reaching the ATP Finals in Turin.

Spanish world number two Carlos Alcaraz also exited the Paris Masters on Thursday.

The 21-year-old four-time major winner forced a deciding set against Frenchman Ugo Humbert, but lost out 6-1 3-6 7-5 to the home favourite who recorded the joint-biggest victory of his career.

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