'Good to be home' - Draper cruises through at Queen's

5 hours ago 3

British number one Jack Draper made comfortable progress to the last 16 at Queen's with a 6-3 6-1 victory over American Jenson Brooksby, while top seed Carlos Alcaraz also advanced.

Spanish world number two Alcaraz was pushed well by determined lucky loser Adam Walton but got the job done in the end with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Draper and Brooksby were meeting for the second time this year, with Draper beating the 24-year-old at Indian Wells in March.

On that occasion Draper had to recover from going 4-1 down in the first set but there was no such trouble this time as he broke Brooksby's serve in the seventh game before grabbing the double break to seal the set.

It was once again sweltering conditions in west London with the temperature at 26C when Draper and Brooksby entered the Andy Murray Arena, but the addition of a gentle breeze would have made things more palatable for the players.

But Draper still had no desire to hang around too long on court.

He broke Brooksby on his first service game and continued his momentum after a pause in play for a medical issue in the stands to get a second break and seal the win.

Draper, who wrote "Good to be home" on the television camera afterwards, will next face Australian Alexei Popyrin for a place in the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old is hoping to emulate Murray and win at Queen's Club. Murray's success as a five-time singles champion there has been honoured this year by having the venue's centre court named after him.

"Can't get rid of this guy," Draper joked about playing in the Andy Murray Arena. "Andy is an unbelievable guy, someone I'm very inspired by and I wouldn't be where I am without him.

"I definitely miss him on the Tour. Thank you Andy, this court deserves to be named after you."

In other action on Tuesday, Czech Jiri Lehecka saw off fifth seed Australian Alex de Minaur 6-4 6-2 to progress to the last 16.

Brooksby only returned to professional tennis in January after a two-year absence because of injury and suspension after missing three anti-doping tests, and the signs of rust were there in this match.

But this was also an impressive showing by Draper, who ironed out some mistakes in the first few games to put in a commanding display that suggests he can go far here.

After securing his first break, he lost just four games on his way to victory.

It was also just the result he needed on his return to competitive action after he was surprisingly beaten by Alexander Bublik in the French Open fourth round.

"It's tricky coming on to the grass after clay, to adapt. I'm hitting the ball a bit late, not on time," Draper said.

"The more matches and time I have on practice courts I'll get better and better and it's definitely a surface I really enjoy playing on and obviously a win helped as well.

"I'm excited to see how I can get on this week I feel excited I feel ready and I want to do my best."

Following Draper's win, top seed Alcaraz, a former champion at Queen's, arrived on court having only discovered his opening-round opponent a couple of hours earlier.

The former world number one had been due to face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina but he withdrew on Tuesday because of illness, meaning lucky loser Walton was called up for his main-draw debut.

Alcaraz, who won the French Open earlier this month, found out about his opponent on the practice court and that lack of preparation for the player he would face, coupled with Walton desire to impress, perhaps led to a surprisingly close first few games in the first set.

But a lengthy seventh game was finally won by Alcaraz on Walton's serve when the Australian sent a shot into the net, giving Alcaraz the break he needed.

That seemed to dent Walton's confidence and Alcaraz took advantage to secure a second break and take the opener.

Walton recovered from that disappointment and pushed Alcaraz all the way in the second set, but the Spaniard saved two set points before sealing the win in the tie-break.

The crowd then rose to give both players a standing ovation for their part in a hugely entertaining match.

Read Entire Article
Sehat Sejahterah| ESPN | | |