Jack Draper once again drew on all his reserves of physical and mental energy as he won his third five-setter in a row to make the Last 16 of the Australian Open – and now faces Carlos Alcaraz in a tantalizing match up for tennis fans across the globe – as he overcame Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8).
“It was an unbelievably tough match. Both of us have played a lot of sets in our first couple of rounds, so I knew it was going to be a really tough match. There were so many ebbs and flows and it was just great tennis.” Said Draper.
Draper, who came through two tough five setters against Mariano Navone and Thanasi Kokkinakis in his previous round on the lively John Cain Arena, faced more hostility from the crowd who regularly cheered missed first serves – a few even booed him as he walked on court. The atmosphere seemed to affect him as he dropped his opening service game and Vukic took a 2-0 lead. However, Draper regrouped and won four games in a row from 2-4 down to astonish his opponent and take the first set including one flashy round-the-net-post winner which stunned the crowd.
But it was all change in the second set as Draper – who was into the third round here for the first time but had already spent over eight hours on court in two rounds – appeared to run out of steam and was broken three times in a row and was facing a bagel. Vukic could not see it out and lost the next two games before closing out the set and levelling the match.
Both men settled into comfortable serving rhythms in the third set as they held serve all the way till five games all where world number 68 finally threatened to break serve first. Even though he had served excellently throughout the set, Draper inexplicably threw in two double faults at 30-all and gifted his opponent the lead. In the next game Draper tried to fight back but lost a tight rally resulting in a fiery racket smash which did not go down well with the home crowd. Vukic took the set on an ace.
In the fourth set, both players missed three opportunities to break serve in the first half of the set, but held on throughout forcing the tie-break where Draper finally took his third set point at 6-5 ahead to force the decider – and his third five-set match in a row having only played three in his entire career thus far.
Draper took an early break in the fifth to lead 3-1 and had chances for the double-break but was pegged back to three games all. Both players continued holding all the way until six games all – the match would be concluded on a Champions Tie-break. It was a thrilling conclusion to a titanic battle.
“I thought it was done (when leading 3-1 in the fifth set) and then he (Vukic) came back from the dead. He was playing incredible.I think we were suffering a lot,” he commented on the end of his match.
“My body doesn’t feel too great. Luckily, I’ve got a good physio. I think mentally I’ve really competed hard. I’ve loved the atmosphere playing in front of so many people and it’s giving me a lot of energy to keep on pushing and surprising myself.”
Fearney’s run ended by Zverev
Meanwhile, fellow Brit Jacob Fearnley’s fabulous debut at the tournament ended with a straight sets defeat to second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Fearnley had beaten home hope Nick Kyrgios in the first round and backed it up with another victory against France’s Arthur Cazaux. But facing the big-serving German was a step too far.
“I think [Zverev] is an extremely good opponent,” said Fearnley afterwards. “He’s extremely solid, and obviously he’s got a massive serve. He chooses the right opportunities to go for the ball. I thought I played some good tennis, some good moments, some low moments. Yeah, I don’t think there was too much in it. Just a few points here and there.”
After a tight opening to the match, Zverev broke for a 4-2 lead and held on for the first set after which Fearnley took a medical time out for a back problem. Although he managed to break the German’s serve in the next two sets, he could not maintain the momentum and was broken back each time.
But the 23-year-old Scot refused to be downbeat after his loss and chose to take the positives knowing his ranking will rise to the top 80. “It’s been awesome. Obviously an extremely good week for me. An unbelievable tournament. The fans were amazing. I played some incredible matches and had some more incredible experiences. I’m looking forward to coming back in the future.”
Fearnley, who took a set off Novak Djokovic in the second round as a wild card at Wimbledon last year, credited his years of training on the American college circuit for the massive developments in his game and for preparing him for life on the Tour.
“I think [college tennis] is a step forward, because you get to work on your fitness. You get to be part of a team. You get to play some unbelievable tennis, and you get to improve, so that when you come out of college, there’s no doubt in your mind that what you want to be is a professional tennis player. If you use your four years wisely in college, you can set yourself up unbelievably to do some damage on the tour. I think that’s what a lot of the guys are doing nowadays. I think it’s the best route to take.”
