Jack Draper cruised through a five-set first round Australian Open for the second year in a row.
Twelve months ago, the British No. 1 vomited into a courtside bin in sweltering Melbourne heat at the end of an excruciating win over Marcos Giron.
It was cooler and cooler this time, with Draper’s biggest problem against Argentina’s Mariano Navone being his own inconsistency after a hamstring injury-induced build-up.
Draper hit 54 winners but committed 88 unforced errors in her victory
Draper committed a whopping 88 unforced errors and looked set to go two sets 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 an hour. : minutes.
The 15th seed threw 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 the training block with Carlos Alcaraz and the United Cup due to a hamstring problem he picked up in pre-season, but he spoke confidently of his prospects ahead of the tournament.
However, the 23-year-old looked out of sorts from the start, making errors and misfiring as Navone took an early break lead.
The British star, a potential dark horse after his run to the semi-finals of the US Open, was in contention in the second set and looked to have turned the corner when he broke serve to start the third.
But instead the errors came back and he dropped serve twice in a row as the 47th-ranked Navone cruised out for the set.
History almost repeated itself in the fourth set as Draper broke early, only to be pushed back, and if Navone had taken more than his five break points, he could have emerged victorious.
But Draper dug in, broke again to take a 5-3 lead and was finally able to find some breathing space in the deciding set with Navone physically feeling the pace.
The 23-year-old left-hander was the third British winner of the day following Jody Burrage and Harriet Dart.
Thanasi Kokkinakis made the last 64 at Melbourne Park for the sixth time
He will stop Thanasi Kokkinakis next after the Australian fought back from a set down and took painkillers during a medical timeout to beat Roman Safiullini 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in a first-round match that lasted more than four hours.
“I could barely sleep last night, a lot of anxiety… It was incredible to play in front of you guys,” he said, gesturing to the home fans.
What’s next on Sky Sports Tennis?
- ABN AMRO Open Rotterdam (ATP 500) – February 3-9
- Dallas Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
- Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
- IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
- Open 13 Provence (ATP 250) – February 10-16
- Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – February 3-9
- Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – February 3-8
- Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA 1000) – February 9-15
- Dubai Free Tennis Championship (WTA 1000) – February 16-22
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