The pick of Wednesday's Paris Masters second round sees the British No. 1 Jack Draper take on American No. 1 Taylor Fritz for a place in the third round.
Aiming to break his losing streak against Fritz, Draper enters the final ATP 1000 event of 2024 with confidence following a successful run in Vienna.
Match preview
© Imago
The British No. 1 can do no wrong at the moment, with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday continuing his winning streak.
Draper, who secured the first ATP 500 title of his career in Vienna, avenged his Lehecka loss in the Adelaide championship match to tie their head-to-head 1-1.
Into the second round in Paris for the second time, the 22-year-old seeks a deep run in the ATP 1000 event to continue his momentum.
The British No. 1 has clinched six consecutive wins on the ATP Tour, highlighting his current status as one of the in-form players entering the Paris event.
Aside from a minor setback in the quarter-final against Tomas Machac, where he lost the second set before winning the decider, Draper's performances have been otherwise flawless during this period.
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It remains to be seen if that run continues against Fritz, whose only defeat on the Tour since the American's run to a maiden Grand Slam was to Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai semis.
That run continued the American's feast-or-famine results at the ATP 1000 tournaments this year, where he has either exited too early or advanced to the final rounds.
Fritz, a two-time champion this year and eighth overall, bids for his second Masters success to add to his Indian Wells success two years ago.
Still a long way from dreaming about that feat, the world No. 5 must navigate a tough tournament opener to avoid similar outcomes as Miami, Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati, where he failed to make it past his first hurdle.
With his ATP Finals place confirmed, the American enters Wednesday's match with that pressure lifted, but he must play his best tennis to defeat the in-form Briton.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Jiri Lehecka 7-5 6-2
Taylor Fritz:
First round: Bye
Head To Head
Paris Olympics (2024) - Round of 32: Fritz 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2
Munich (2024) - Quarter-final: Fritz 4-6 6-3 7-6(1)
Queen's Club (2022) - Round of 32: Draper 6-3 6-2
Draper won the players' first meeting two years ago, but the American player has turned the deficit around to lead their head-to-head 2-1.
The Briton is 5-12 against top-10 opposition, although he has notched three victories in his last four, losing only to Jannik Sinner at the US Open semi-final.
The ongoing 3-1 run followed the 22-year-old's eight-match losing sequence against the elite group before beating Carlos Alcaraz in June, pointing to a turnaround for the hard-hitting British No. 1.
We say: Draper to win in three sets
While Fritz's ranking means he is favoured to advance, Draper's momentum and a seeming mental shift against the big opponents could swing Wednesday's round-two match his way.
