Jack Draper came back from the brink of defeat against Mariano Navone (Argentina) to win 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after more than four hours on court.
The 15th-seeded Draper looked exhausted in the fourth set when he trailed Navone up two sets, 1-2, and held two break points at 2-2. In the end, he found a second wind late in the set and turned the match around, scoring a significant victory in his first Grand Slam tournament since reaching the semifinals at the US Open.
Earlier this month, Draper arrived in Australia under less-than-ideal circumstances after suffering a hip injury during the offseason that kept him off the court and gave him little time to adequately prepare for the year's first Grand Slam tournament. Arrived. . By missing the United Cup, he will no longer have the opportunity to play in the lead up to the Australian Open.
The 23-year-old Argentine had a breakout season last year, rising from outside the top 100 to 29th place. However, his success at the highest level came exclusively on clay courts. Navone enters Court 3 with an ATP record of 4-12 on hard courts, but has yet to win back-to-back tour-level matches on clay.
Draper's lack of preparation was evident from the start. He had a very hard time hitting his first serve in his position, and his timing was off the baseline. Draper was very tentative, vacillating between loose errors and groundstrokes to the court, while Naborn naturally played like a contender with little to lose. Despite tying the match at one set all, Draper's forehand completely fell apart in the second set and he began to struggle with the draining long rallies that Navone continually dragged him through.
By the fourth set, Draper looked completely exhausted. His footwork was deteriorating as he walked carefully between points and spent most of the overtime rallies with desperate drop shots. But when it really mattered, the British number one dug deep and found the energy and determination to turn the game around and put himself in Melbourne.
