Jack Draper came through a five-set battle in the first round of the Australian
Open for the second year in a row.
Twelve months ago, the British No 1 vomited into a courtside bin at the end of a gruelling win over Marcos Giron in intense Melbourne heat.
It was cooler and breezier this time, with Draper’s biggest problem against Argentinian Mariano Navone his own inconsistency after a disrupted build-up caused by a hip injury.
Draper committed a whopping 88 unforced errors and looked to be heading for defeat at two sets to one down but dug himself out of a big hole to win 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 after four hours and one minute.
The 15th seed raised his arms in the air after Navone’s final return flew wide before puffing out his cheeks and giving his opponent a weary hug.
Draper was forced to miss a training block with Carlos Alcaraz and the United Cup because of the hip problem he sustained in pre-season but he spoke confidently about his prospects ahead of the tournament.
However, the 23-year-old looked out of sorts from the start, spraying errors and mistiming shots as Navone moved an early break ahead.
The British star, a potential dark horse after his run to the semi-finals of the US Open, settled into the contest in the second set and seemed to have turned the corner when he broke serve to start the third.
But instead the errors returned and he dropped serve twice in a row, with 47th-ranked Navone going on to take the set.
History nearly repeated itself in the fourth set as Draper broke early only to be pegged back, and, had Navone taken more than one of his five break points, he may well have emerged victorious.
But Draper dug in, broke again to lead 5-3 and was finally able to find some breathing space in the deciding set with Navone feeling the pace physically.
The 23-year-old left-hander was the third British winner of the day following on from Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
- ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
- Dallas Open (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
- Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- Open 13 Provence (ATP 250) – 10-16 February
- Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – 3-9 February
- Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – 3-8 February
- Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA 1000) – 9-15 February
- Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (WTA 1000) – 16-22 February
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