With the effort, the 25-year-old has leapfrogged Andrey Rublev for the No. 8 spot in the race to Turin. If he advances to the semifinals, De Minaur will overtake Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud to improve his odds even further. Both Rublev and Ruud were eliminated in their openers Tuesday, while Djokovic withdrew ahead of the event.
Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas are still in the running to shake up the race leaderboard themselves, with the Greek earlier booking his place in the last eight with his own three-set comeback over Francisco Cerundolo. Dimitrov is due to take the court for the final match of the night against local hopeful Arthur Rinderknech.
After failing to serve out the opening set, Draper—the incoming Vienna title holder—laced a forehand winner down the line at 6-5, 30-30. De Minaur, who had problems overhitting his forehand, once again pushed one long to fall behind.
