Draper beats Paul to reach Madrid Open last eight

An authoritative Jack Draper booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open with a convincing 6-2 6-2 win against Tommy Paul.

The British number one broke the American in the third and seventh games and served out to love to take the first set in 32 minutes.

Paul's serve was being put under the greater pressure and, while he saved two break points in the third game of the second set, Draper broke him to love in the fifth game to go 3-2 up.

A stunning forehand down the line put Draper 5-2 and a double break ahead and he comfortably won the next game on his serve to win the match in one hour and seven minutes.

"I felt really good out there," Draper told Sky Sports. "I know Tommy is a great player and I had to be on him from the off. I felt good.

"I think probably for the players who are from the UK or who don't play on this surface often, they go into it with the mindset they are not going to be that great on it and, therefore, that can prevent them going further.

"I know I can play well on this surface and this year it's been a big goal of mine to prove that I can play really well. I know that if I want to be a top player that I have to."

The powerful forehand of Draper, who did not face a break point in the match, was in good working order throughout as he hit 13 of his 20 winners with it.

Paul only managed seven winners in the match, while he made 31 unforced errors compared to 11 from his opponent.

Draper, who is at a career-high sixth in the world rankings, is the fifth seed at the Madrid Open and the highest ranked player remaining.

He will play Matteo Arnaldi in the last eight after the Italian, who knocked out Novak Djokovic, beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3 7-5 and Draper can move to number five in the men's rankings if he wins.

In the women's draw, defending champion Iga Swiatek recovered from losing the first set without winning a game to beat Madison Keys 0-6 6-3 6-2 in their quarter-final.

American Keys, who won the Australian Open for her first Grand Slam victory earlier this year, took the first set in 24 minutes before four-time French Open champion Swiatek recovered to secure a semi-final spot.

"Honestly, it was one of the weirdest matches I've ever played," said Poland's Swiatek.

"I didn't feel like [the first set] was that bad. I felt the ball well - it just went super long. I tried to play a bit shorter and with some mistakes by Maddy, the momentum changed in the end. I'm happy that I did it."

Swiatek will face Coco Gauff in the last four after the American beat Mirra Andreeva 7-5 6-1.

Gauff faced two set points in the first set before taking control and securing victory.

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina is also into the semi-finals courtesy of a 6-2 6-1 win against Japan's Moyuka Uchijima and will play the winner of Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk.