Cameron Norrie through to final of ASB Classic | Jack Draper suffers semi-final defeat in Adelaide | Tennis News

Cameron Norrie is through to the final of the ASB Classic for the second time in four years after the Brit beat American Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-4 on Friday.

With the Australian Open just days away, Norrie came to the tournament in Auckland in good form after beating Rafael Nadal in the United Cup and carried that through, beating Jiri Lehecka and Marcos Giron on his way to the semi-final.

The world No 12, who was raised in Auckland, has now won all six matches this year as he bids to win his first title of 2023.

Norrie was able to recover from 2-0 down in the second set against Brooksby and won six of the next eight games to set up a tie against Richard Gasquet in Saturday’s final.

The 36-year-old Frenchman was given a walkover against injured compatriot Constant Lestienne.

Norrie is hoping to clinch tournament victory that will set him up for his Australian Open first-round meeting with French wildcard Luca van Assche.

“It was 6-3, 6-4, but it was an absolute battle,” Norrie said. “A lot of long rallies. He puts the ball in such awkward parts of the court, and I had to come up with a lot of very tough shots on the run and a lot of big passes.”

British No 3 Jack Draper will now head to Melbourne after losing to South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo in Adelaide.

The 21-year-old was aiming to reach his first ATP Tour final and was favourite going into the last four tie, having defeated the same opponent last week at the same venue.

But Draper suffered a 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 loss in a gruelling contest that lasted two hours and 45 minutes.

The Brit faces the toughest possible tie in the first round of the Australian Open in the form of top seed Rafael Nadal, in what will be the toughest assignment of his fledgling career.

However with Nadal having lost six of his last seven matches, it could be a good time to face the former world No 1.