When Rafael Nadal drew Jack Draper in the Australian Open first round, it was no secret that the Spaniard’s team felt he had been handed a nightmare opening match to start his title defence. As the 21-year-old Draper took the second set to level those early fears were beginning to turn into real concern, but in the hot afternoon sun in Melbourne the Briton’s chances were starting to melt away. Ambitions of a seismic upset were reined in by cramps as Nadal was able to haul Draper back, but the defending champion will need to improve if he is to match his stunning exploits of last year.
He keeps those chances alive, at least, but they are beginning to look slimmer after an error-strewn performance broke out from a first set of decent quality. Draper more than held his own in the opener but Nadal’s level dropped dramatically in the second as the mistakes mounted. The world No 38 Draper took the first four games, settling to add further power to his physical game, but lost his momentum early in the third as he began to stretch out his legs and his movement suffered.
