New British No 1 Jack Draper cruises through to his first grass-court final on the ATP Tour after straight sets win over Brandon Nakashima in Stuttgart

New British No 1 Jack Draper cruised through to his first grass-court final on the ATP Tour by defeating American Brandon Nakashima in Stuttgart.

Draper edged a deciding set epic on Friday against another American in Frances Tiafoe and he continued his dominant run in Germany by swatting Nakashima aside 6-3, 6-3.

The 22-year-old is up to a career-high world No 32 in the live rankings and he is peaking at the right time as he seeks a first grass-court title, as well as a seed at Wimbledon.

'It's an amazing feeling,' Draper said on court.

'I'll give it my best shot (in the final). Everyone here is an incredible player so if I come out and play as I have been I'll give myself a good shot (of winning).'

Draper pitched up in Germany as the tournament's sixth seed, but entering in disappointing form having had a difficult clay-court swing with three successive defeats.

The Brit, who will face either Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti in Sunday's final, went away and focused on becoming more aggressive as he bids to win his first ATP Tour title.

He previously reached semi-finals on two previous occasions, losing to France's Adrian Mannarino at the Sofia Open in November 2023 and to Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka at the Adelaide International in January.

'James Trotman, my current coach and I, had been working together for a long time and we kind of felt like we needed another voice to come in and just talk about a few things,' Draper told Mail Sport on Friday.

'[Wayne Ferreira] was always trying to get me to be more aggressive but I don't think I've quite got to that point, to that realisation that I needed to change.

'After the first few events on the clay where I had chances in all the matches I lost, I realised I was trying to make them miss and these top players don't miss, especially in those big moments.

'I think we see it with (Carlos) Alcaraz in the final of the French Open, you've got to go out there at this level with the way that men's tennis is changing, to win the match and you've got to win it on your own terms. If you don't then these guys are going to beat you. So I had to really look at myself and think how am I going to change?'

Particularly this week in Stuttgart, Draper's serve has been a crucial weapon, landing 31 aces in the win over Tiafoe and 13 more in the straight sets win over Nakashima.

It was one of the areas which was targeted for specific improvement following a shoulder injury.

'The serve's a big factor in all of this, but also, you know, my return position, I've come up the court massively,' he said.

'I think if you watch any of my matches before the clay court season, you'll see me standing, you know, so far back, even in the last year on the grass and on the hard courts.

'Earlier this year, I was always standing very far back and I completely changed that.

'I'm returning up the court now, so that's helped me a lot. And I'm just trying to come forward more, trying to use my presence, and just trying to play like a six foot four player, but with all the stuff added in.

'So I'm really, really happy with my mindset and how I've embraced the change and embraced the people around me, telling me that I need to change. And hopefully it's an intent to put out there.'

He added: 'I can still win lots of matches playing as that defensive player - I've got to 35 in the world playing that way. I'm going to beat guys in the top 50 and great players but if I want to be a top 10 player hopefully competing for big, big titles I'm aware that people like Alcaraz take it to another gear.

'They're not going to beat themselves. You have to have to have the game to beat them.'