Jack Draper reached the first round of the Australian Open for the second year in a row after a five-set battle.
Twelve months ago, the British No. 1 vomited in a court dustbin after a grueling victory over Marcos Giron in the scorching heat of Melbourne.
This time the weather was cool and windy, Draper’s biggest problem against Argentina’s Mariano Navon was his own inconsistency after a build-up disrupted by a hip injury.
Draper made 88 unforced errors and looked headed for defeat after being down two sets to one, but won 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 after four hours and a Pulled myself out of a big hole to get the win. minutes.
The 15th seed raised her arms in the air after Navon’s final comeback before puffing out her cheeks and giving her opponent an exhausted hug.
Draper was forced to miss a training block with Carlos Alcaraz and the United Cup due to a hip problem in pre-season, but he spoke confidently about his prospects ahead of the tournament.
However, the 23-year-old looked out of form from the start, making mistakes and misplacing shots as Navon went ahead after the early break.
The British star, a potential hidden horse after reaching the US Open semi-finals, settled into the contest in the second set and when she broke serve to start the third set it looked as if she had turned the corner.
But instead the errors returned and he lost serve twice in a row, allowing 47th-ranked Navon to take the set.
History almost repeated itself in the fourth set as Draper’s break was broken early and he fell behind, and if Navon had taken more than one of his five break points, he might have emerged victorious.
But Draper held on hard, again taking a 5–3 lead and finally managed to find some relief, feeling Navon’s physical pace in the deciding set.
The 23-year-old left-hander was the third British winner of the day Beyond Jody Burrage and Harriet Dart,
Thanasi Kokkinakis reaches the last 64 at Melbourne Park for the sixth time
he will face Thanasi Kokkinakis The Australian then came back from a set down and took painkillers during a medical timeout to defeat Roman Safiullin 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 in a first-round match that lasted more than four hours. Defeated by (7-5).
“I could barely sleep last night, there was a lot of anxiety… It was incredible to play in front of you guys,” he said, pointing to the home fans.
What’s going to be on Sky Sports Tennis?
- ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam (ATP 500) – 3-9 February
- Dallas Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
- Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
- 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
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours in 2025, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports or stream with now And the Sky Sports app is giving Sky Sports customers access to live sport up to 50 per cent more at no extra cost this year. Learn more here.
