Off to a winning start in Rome, world number five and British number one Jack Draper eyes a spot in the fourth round of the Italian Open when he meets qualifier Vit Kopriva in Sunday's third-round showdown.
Draper battled past Luciano Darderi and the home crowd to triumph in his opening battle on Friday, while his 92nd-ranked foe stunned Sebastian Baez to earn a date with the Indian Wells winner.
Match preview
© Imago
Ultimately aiming to go one better than his run to the runners-up prize in Madrid, Draper continues to go from strength to strength on clay and eliminated one of the home favourites first up, taking down Darderi 6-1 6-4 with one hour and 18 minutes on the clock.
The scoreline did not quite tell the full story for the British number one, though, as Darderi fashioned six chances to break Draper in the second set, but the world number five beat away all of them before advancing on a Darderi double fault.
As well as saving all seven break points that his Italian foe brought up across the match, Draper coincidentally registered seven aces, took four of his five break points and conjured up an eye-catching 33 winners, whereas his beleaguered foe managed a measly eight.
Achieving personal best after personal best over the past 12 months, Draper has already progressed further at the Italian Open than ever before - his debut tournament in 2024 ended in a second-round loss to Daniil Medvedev - and there are currently none better at ATP 1000 level.
Indeed, the 23-year-old boasts 13 match wins in Masters tournaments in the 2025 campaign - the joint-most on the ATP Tour alongside Lorenzo Musetti - and a significant milestone is also on the line for Draper on Sunday, where he could bring up his 100th tour-level victory.
© Imago
Standing in Draper's way of completing that century is one of the few qualifiers left in the main draw, as Kopriva proved that his maiden Masters win over Quentin Halys was no fluke by coming from a set down to stun 32nd seed Baez on Friday.
The 27-year-old took just over two-and-a-half hours to upset the Argentine 3-6 6-4 6-4, despite amassing an unsightly 51 unforced errors on the day; Baez struck 45 himself but only produced 17 winners compared to the Czech's 25.
A frequent clay-court champion on the Challenger Tour - winning all six of his finals on the surface at that level - Kopriva is belatedly showcasing that prowess at the top of the game, as the world number 92 bids for a first-ever French Open main-draw appearance in a few weeks' time.
Kopriva's sole top-10 victory to date also came on the red dirt - a three-set success over Denis Shapovalov at the 2021 Swiss Open - and almost exactly four years later, he is enjoying life in the top 100 for the first time.
If the 27-year-old can pull off the biggest scalp of his career against Draper, he will vie for a place in the quarter-finals against either Holger Rune or Corentin Moutet, but that is a very big if against one of the most in-form players the tour has to offer.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Bye
Second round: vs. Luciano Darderi 6-1 6-4
Vit Kopriva:
First round: vs. Quentin Halys 6-4 6-3
Second round: vs. Sebastian Baez 3-6 6-4 6-4
Head To Head
BMW Open (2024) - First Round: Draper wins 6-1 5-7 6-4
Draper and Kopriva will be facing off for just the second time on the ATP Tour this weekend, and their first contest coincidentally came on clay at the 2024 BMW Open in Munich, where they served up an entertaining back-and-forth battle.
However, the British number one did not let a second-set blip affect him as he prevailed in that first-round contest, landing 75% of his first serves and converting six of his 10 break points on the day.
We say: Draper to win in two sets
Kopriva possesses the weapons to do some damage on his favoured clay surface, and the Czech is at the peak of his powers right now, evidenced by two victories over players ranked significantly higher than him in Rome so far.
The 27-year-old gave Draper a decent run for his money in Munich last year too, but with the world number five in such a merciless mood, this should be a straightforward affair.
Ben Knapton
