Draper 'shows heart' to win Melbourne opener

Jack Draper has never gone beyond the second round at the Australian Open

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

Coverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app

British number one Jack Draper was far below his best but managed to avoid a shock first-round defeat at the Australian Open.

Draper, seeded 15th, twice trailed before fighting back to beat Argentine clay specialist Mariano Navone 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 in a mammoth four hours and one minute.

The 23-year-old left-hander was playing his first match since October, having had his build-up disrupted by a hip problem.

Draper insisted beforehand he was "ready to go" against 46th-ranked Navone.

But the US Open semi-finalist’s usually reliable serve was broken five times and he committed a whopping 88 unforced errors.

Nevertheless he showed character and resilience to come through, taking advantage in the final set as Navone struggled with injury.

"I think I showed a lot of heart today. It wasn't pretty at all. It was nowhere near my best. Sometimes it's about showing some heart," said Draper.

"I'm really, really proud of that. I think that's a big win."

As well as disrupting his off-season, Draper's hip injury meant he was unable to play a warm-up event before the first Grand Slam of the year.

In a bid to regain sharpness, he played practice sets against 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic and world number one Jannik Sinner last week on Rod Laver Arena.

However, there is no substitute for match practice - and it showed from the start.

Draper's footwork was not sharp, his groundstrokes not fluid and his body language did not convey much positivity.

The Briton faced break points in four of his five service games in the opening set as Navone's solidity from the baseline drew out errors.

Gruelling service games were the last thing a player who has previously struggled in hot conditions needed.

Draper memorably threw up on the side of the court after securing his first Australian Open victory last year, although he put that down to the stress of the occasion and not the heat.

Temperatures were much cooler on this occasion, although still warm enough for Draper to keep ice towels to hand at every changeover.

Draper improved in the second set to level the match, but there continued to be momentum swings in a scrappy contest.

Navone, 23, has been ranked as high as 32nd in the world - predominantly on the strength of his clay-court pedigree.

In fact, he had only won six of his previous 22 matches on a hard court and had never even played in the Australian Open main draw.

Eventually Draper wore down his resistance and huge puff of the cheeks at the end of the match signalled his relief, before the two shared a warm hug at the net.

Draper will play Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis - who also needed just over four hours to beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin - next.

"I haven't really played loads and loads of tennis," Draper added. "I only started playing points in this last week. My body really wasn't great for the whole of December.

"It's a big spike in my load playing a four-hour match.

"But I think the best set I played was the last set. I felt the best in the last set as well. That's a real positive."