Erste Bank Open: Briton Jack Draper reaches Vienna final in straight sets

British number one Jack Draper reached the Erste Bank Open final by beating Italian Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets in Vienna.

Seventh seed Draper broke the serve of sixth seed Musetti five times to beat his fellow 22-year-old 6-2 6-4 and reach his first ATP 500 final.

Draper has won one ATP 250 title – the Stuttgart Open in June.

“I suppose it is my biggest final yet,” Draper said.

This has been a stellar year for Draper, with the highlight being his run to the US Open semi-finals in September.

Now he will move to a career-high ranking, inside the top 16 for the first time.

He said: “I have been in 250 finals, Grand Slam semis, obviously a bigger match than tomorrow, but at the same time to be in the final of a 500 after all the work I put in this year and the season I have had, I am incredibly grateful.”

One difference between ATP 250 and ATP 500 titles is the amount of ranking points a player earns for winning a tournament.

Victory over Musetti moved Draper to provisional world number 15, leapfrogging the Italian.

Draper will play Karen Khachanov in Sunday’s final after the unseeded Russian beat second seed Alex de Minaur – also by a 6-2 6-4 margin.

World number 24 Khachanov, 28, resisted a De Minaur fightback in the second set, when the Australian recovered a break of serve.

Khachanov will be attempting to win the eighth ATP singles title of his career, and a third of the year after wins in Qatar and – only last weekend – in Kazakhstan.