Monday , 16 February 2026
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Draper cruises past Lehecka to reach Paris second round

Jack Draper beat Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-5 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Sunday

British number one Jack Draper cruised through to the second round of the Paris Masters with a straight-set win over the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka.

Draper, who won the biggest title of his career in Vienna on Sunday, won 7-5 6-2 in one hour eight minutes.

A tight first set went to serve before Draper made the crucial break in the 11th game.

The Briton dominated the second set, reeling off five games in a row to seal victory.

He will now face American fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the second round on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old left-hander, who reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open last month, rose to a career-high ranking of 15th in the world on Monday.

Earlier on Tuesday, world number one Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Masters 1,000 event with illness.

Italy’s Sinner said he had picked up a virus after arriving early in the city to practise for the event.

“Today I feel better already a little bit, but the body is not ready to compete and I still feel very, very weak,” the 23-year-old said.

“It doesn’t make sense to go on court and try to compete.”

Sinner will be hopeful of recovering before the season-ending ATP Finals, which take place in Turin from 13-20 November.

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