Jack Draper dug deep to overcome a lack of preparation for the Australian Open and survive a first-round scare. Well below full fitness because of a recent hip injury, the British No1 battled back from two sets to one down to prevail despite hitting an astonishing 88 unforced errors.
Draper had hoped that training sessions with the likes of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner last week would help sharpen his game for the first grand-slam tournament of the season. He had not played a match since November 1 after sustaining the hip issue during his pre-season preparations last month.
Practice, however, is often no substitute for actual competition and the difference in intensity was almost too much for Draper. The 23-year-old was floundering at times before settling down in the final two sets for a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Mariano Navone, the world No47 from Argentina. At four hours and one minute, it was the longest match of his career.
“I think I showed a lot of heart today,” Draper said. “It wasn’t pretty at all. I was nowhere near my best. Sometimes it’s about showing some heart. I’m really, really proud of that today. That’s a big win.”
The victory is a relief for Draper who was on the brink of suffering a deeply disappointing start to the year after such a strong strong finish to last season. He reached the US Open semi-finals in September before claiming a second ATP Tour title at the Vienna Open in October, putting him at a career-high world ranking of No15 going into 2025.
Draper had planned a busy pre-season schedule before injury forced the cancellation of a training block in Spain with Carlos Alcaraz. He then withdrew from the United Cup in Sydney, which was due to be his only warm-up tournament before the Australian Open.
This left him badly short of matchplay going into his first-round encounter here and it showed in the early stages. Draper did not look comfortable on the court and was put under pressure on his serve from the off, with one break enough for Navone to go on and take the opening set.
-Draper’s battling instincts kicked in and he did well to fight back for the second set, but his physical condition was not strong enough to sustain a high level of play. He even deployed drop shots in an effort to shorten the points, which more often than not proved an unsuccessful tactic as the fresher Navone had no issue chasing them down on his way to the third set.
Navone, 23, is relatively inexperienced, though, having never previously played the Australian Open and he tightened up with the finish line in sight, allowing Draper to level the match at two sets all without needing to play anywhere near his best. A second wind then helped Draper in the decider as he claimed two breaks of serve to seal victory despite hitting 35 more unforced errors overall than his opponent.
Draper now has a day of recovery on Tuesday before he returns on Wednesday to play Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis. A win would take him into the third round of the Australian Open for the first time, although he will need a significant improvement on this performance.
“I think I will pull up fine,” Draper said of taking on the world No71 off the back of a marathon match. “I haven’t really played loads and loads of tennis. I only started playing points in this last week. My body really wasn’t great for the whole of December.
“The best set I played was the last set. I felt the best in the last set as well. That’s a real positive.”
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