The absence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and the subsequent elimination of Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz mean the new favourite at the Mutua Madrid Open is someone who is not particularly comfortable on clay. However, Jack Draper is more than happy to be called the favourite and is starting to play some of his best tennis.

The British world No. 6 silenced his critics on Wednesday by defeating the American Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour . “You need a favourite? Well, here I am”, said the left-hander in a Manolo Santana Stadium that had just delighted in his tennis repertoire.

The champion in Indian Wells a few weeks ago, and the new superstar of British tennis, has now reached his first quarterfinals at a Masters 1000 on clay, a surface on which he has never won a title and where he has his worst win-loss record. However, there is a first time for everything and this fortnight in Madrid he is in a confident mood; he beat Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-4 in his opener, then was handed a walkover against Matteo Berrettini after a 7-6 first set and now, in the last sixteen, he has swept aside a player of the quality of Tommy Paul.

Is he surprised? Not at all. “I’m not saying it arrogantly, I just think it’s a question of time before I win something big on clay. When I practised when I was young on this surface I always felt good. Obviously, now the level is different, but I feel good trying to prove to myself and everyone that I’m a good player on this surface, that I’m a dangerous player on clay”, he said on court after his match.

The world number six later elaborated: “Everyone’s different and I think the players that don’t play well on clay, like me, can easily fall into the trap of thinking it’s not our best surface. But I do hope to be one of the best players in the world for many years, so I’ll have to play very well on all surfaces and be consistent. It’s a challenge for me. I think I can do really good things on clay. We’ll see. Time will tell”, added the 23-year-old.

Draper, who has five straight wins against top-20 players for the first time, will on Thursday be playing in the quarters against Matteo Arnaldi, who beat the American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5. If he wins, he is guaranteed to at least surpass Djokovic in the world rankings and climb to fifth.