For the second time in as many matches, Jack Draper found himself on the brink of a painful, early defeat at the Australian Open as his difficult preparation during the off-season was reflected in his form. Draper had been dragged around the court for three and a half hours, outplayed by an opponent determined to eviscerate every last ball. Down two sets to one, Draper was four points away from defeat as Thanasi Kokkinakis served for a place in the third round of the Australian Open.
Somehow, yet again, Draper found a way through with another demonstration of his combativeness and heart. At the end of a four-hour, 35-minute psychodrama, the longest match of his career, Draper recovered to win his second consecutive five-set match with an unforgettable 6-7 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Kokkinakis just before midnight in Melbourne.
“I think it’s been really difficult the last few years with question marks over long matches and backing up performances with long matches,” said Draper. “I wouldn’t say I’m playing my best tennis. Obviously I’ve had a tough preparation. But if anything, I’m really proud of my mentality, my body, and the way I competed.”
Draper, the 15th seed, is joined in the third round by his childhood friend and rival Jacob Fearnley, who continued his spectacular breakout run in his first grand slam tournament as a direct entrant. Fearnley recovered from a set down to reach the third round with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over Arthur Cazaux of France.
From the very first game, it was clear that Kokkinakis was struggling physically. He had returned to Melbourne managing pectoral muscle pain and he continually shot concerned looks towards his courtside team.
A wounded professional tennis player, though, can sometimes be more dangerous than ever before. As Kokkinakis pounded first serves and lashed out forehands with reckless abandon, the relentless roars from the John Cain Arena crowd helping to dull his pain, Draper was charged with neutralising and pressuring Kokkinakis in order to find a way through. He had no answer to Kokkinakis’s near-flawless serving display early on.
Although Draper was able to dig himself into the match by elongating rallies and forcing errors from Kokkinakis, he remained tentative from the baseline, particularly with his forehand, as Kokkinakis controlled so many of the exchanges. After Draper edged out the second set, Kokkinakis re-established his supreme serving and dominance of the baseline. At 5-4 in the fourth set, he stepped up to the baseline to serve for the match.
Over the course of his career, Kokkinakis has built a reputation for his frailty in the most important moments and inability to close out big matches. The last time the 28-year-old faced a Brit in Melbourne, two years ago, Andy Murray recovered from two sets down to defeat him in a chaotic battle that ended at 4am. Things took a similar turn on Wednesday as Draper locked down his game and refused to miss as Kokkinakis tried to serve out the match and then he gradually turned the match around.
As Draper closed out the comeback win, he celebrated his victory with a touch of mischief, cupping his hands to his ears. This was also a triumph over the unruly Australian crowd, which disrupted and hurled abuse at him throughout their time on court.
“I think sometimes you don’t want to sort of rile them or give it back. But to be fair, it gave me energy doing that,” said Draper. “There were times where I was down, then I come through a tough game. And I was feeling it a little bit. It gave me energy giving it back a little bit. It’s just a bit of fun. They are saying stuff at me. It’s nice to sort of just give it like a bit of an ear or something like that.”
While Kokkinakis has been unable to escape the mental frailty that has dogged him throughout his career, Draper’s reputation is quickly changing. On Monday, he defeated Mariano Navone in four hours, one minute. After struggling with his physicality for so much of his young career, Draper has now navigated back-to-back four-hour five-set matches while playing some of his best tennis in the final stages. It is a massive step forward.
“My body felt good,” he said. “I didn’t cramp. My body felt amazing, considering. I haven’t done an awful lot. I’ve built so much work over a long period of time now. I think the step was mentally to be able to sort of be relaxed and be calm and know that I’ve put in all the hard work. All that’s been done. I’m ready. “
Two days on from his tremendous win over Nick Kyrgios on John Cain Arena, Fearnley thought he would enjoy a far calmer atmosphere as he battled for a place in the third round. Instead, the 23-year-old was met with another intense atmosphere on a court that contains a drinks bar. As loud, drunken French and British fans cheered on their player, the match between Felix Auger Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on the nearby court 7 had to be moved elsewhere.
“I actually didn’t really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar, I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere,” said Fearnley. “Usually they go together, a bar and a rowdy atmosphere. It was interesting.”
