All eyes will be on Alex de Minaur's Paris Masters third-round battle with Jack Draper on Thursday, with the Australian player seeking to avenge his US Open loss to the Briton.
De Minaur, stunned in the last-eight match in New York, hopes for a win to advance to the quarters in Paris at the expense of a player who got the better of American No. 1 Taylor Fritz on Wednesday.
Match preview
© Imago
A pivotal week for De Minaur's hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals for the first time took another positive turn with the Australian's second-round success against Miomir Kecmanovic.
The ninth seed notched a 6-4, 7-6(5) success over his Serbian opponent to set up Thursday's encounter with his in-form opponent, but the higher-ranked player's motivation to advance at the Briton's expense cannot be watered down.
Draper thwarted the 25-year-old's ambition to compete in a first Grand Slam semi-final at Flushing Meadows, a loss the nine-time ATP Tour champion aims to avenge in Paris.
Furthermore, De Minaur's prospects to qualify for the year-end event in Turin gathered momentum following exits to Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev, currently seventh and eighth in the Live Rankings.
The Australian is next in the rankings, 100 points behind the Russian and 200 adrift of the Norwegian, fuelling his objective for a deep run in Paris.
© Imago
Standing in his way is Draper, the in-form British No. 1 who secured his seventh triumph in succession against Fritz.
The win means the 22-year-old and recent champion in Vienna tied the American in their head-to-head at 2-2 to progress to a first third-round match in Paris.
Having reached the last eight in Cincinnati, the two-time ATP Tour winner aims to match his best in back-to-back appearances at 1000 events after missing out in Shanghai.
Draper's form has seen him drop two sets across his winning streak, and he aims to improve to 8-0 to set up a last-eight match against Arthur Cazaux or Holger Rune.
With four victories against top-10 opponents this season, including one against Thursday's opponent, the British No. 1 aims to record a fifth in 2024 and eighth overall.
Tournament so far
Alex de Minaur:
First round: vs. Mariano Navone 7-5 6-1
Second round: vs. Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 7-6(5)
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Jiri Lehecka 7-5 6-2
Second round: vs. Taylor Fritz 7-6(6) 4-6 6-4
Head To Head
US Open (2024) - Quarter-final: Draper 6-3 7-5 6-2
Acapulco (2024) - Semi-final: De Minaur 6-3 2-6 4-0 ret
Tokyo (2023) - Round of 32: De Minaur 4-6 7-6(4) 7-6(1)
Wimbledon (2022) - Second round: De Minaur 5-7 7-6(0) 6-2 6-3
De Minaur leads their head-to-head 3-1, even if his sole loss came in September's US Open defeat.
The British star has notched double the number of victories against elite opponents this year than he managed previously and aspires to add to that number in Paris.
We say: Draper to win in three sets
Draper's recent surge in form makes him the likely winner against De Minaur, despite the Australian's ambition to supplant Ruud or Rublev and qualify for the ATP Finals.
