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Jack Draper's season is over after angry Paris Masters defeat to Alex de Minaur

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slim hopes of making it to the Finals have been dashed following his defeat by Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters.

Draper had kindled hopes of making it to the season finale in Turin after clinching victory at the Vienna Open last week.

To qualify, he would have needed to triumph in Paris this week and then replicate his strong performance at a smaller tournament next week. However, he fell short against De Minaur, who bolstered his own chances of qualifying by tentatively securing the final spot.

Unfortunately, Draper, who was playing his seventh match in eight days, ran out of energy against the Australian, resulting in a 5-7 6-2 6-4 third-round loss.

This defeat could potentially mark the end of Draper's remarkable season, which he will reflect on with great pride, having secured two titles, reached his first grand slam semi-final, and achieved a career-best ranking in the top 20.

After such an exhausting schedule, and a three-set win over fifth seed on Wednesday, the notoriously tenacious De Minaur would have been the last opponent Draper wanted to face.

However, things started off well for Draper as he took control of the first set thanks to a hot streak where he went from 2-2 to 5-2.

He seemed poised to secure a fourth consecutive game as he led 0-30 on De Minaur's serve, but the Australian fought back to hold and then capitalised on a sloppy game to break back when Draper was serving for the first set.

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However, the British number one managed to regain control and successfully broke again at 6-5 to secure the first set.

The momentum then shifted as De Minaur took the reins and swiftly claimed the second set with two breaks of serve.

Draper's situation seemed dire when he was broken in the opening game of the decider, , but he managed to pull himself back to level pegging at 2-2 after a sudden surge of energy.

Unfortunately, this resurgence was short-lived as De Minaur immediately retaliated and then comfortably crossed the finish line by securing three of the next four games.

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