Draper savours his week in Doha: "I was able to set up my tennis".
Jack Draper will be playing in his fifth ATP Tour final this Saturday. The British player reacted perfectly to his withdrawal in the last 16 of the Australian Open against Carlos Alcaraz and reached the final in Doha.
To do so, he eliminated Alexei Popyrin (6-2, 7-6), Christopher O'Connell (6-2, 6-1), Matteo Berrettini (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) and Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals (3-6, 7-6, 6-3).
In the final, Draper, 23, will attempt to win the 3rd title of his career against Andrey Rublev, whom he has never beaten in three previous encounters.
In anticipation of a new battle, the semi-finalist at the last US Open has reassured himself on the physical front after recurring problems of late.
"I was injured even before the Australian Open. I couldn't play at all. I still went to Australia, but I didn't have any objectives, as I hadn't even been able to train.
I played very loosely, but I was still able to build up my confidence. Here in Doha, I've had a really good week, and I've been able to put my tennis together.
But when you're a tennis player, you always have to think about the next day. It doesn't matter what I did yesterday, it's tomorrow that counts.
I've gained confidence in myself and I came to Doha knowing that I'll be able to play good tennis. You know, you're never really at 100%, there's always a little trick.
That's the way tennis is and it's very hard on the body. But I'm doing my best to recover well.
Andrey (Rublev) is huge! He's someone I've seen on the circuit for years. He's been in the top 10 for five years.
He's a very likeable personality on the circuit, he's very funny. But on every point, he's 100%. On the court, he's on fire. He's beaten me three times in a row, but I hope it's my turn in the final," he assured L'Équipe.
Doha 
