Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper both booked their spots in the next round of the Dubai Duty Free ATP500 Tennis Championships which began today.
The Canadian came through 6-3, 7-6 against China’s Zhizhen Zhang in a tough encounter lasting ten minutes short of two hours. He broke serve early in the first set but faced a much stiffer test in the second where he had six chances to win the match before the tie-break. After winning, he breathed a huge sigh of relief before exiting the court and signing a plethora of autographs for the fans.
“I stopped counting [the matchpoints] at some point, it was getting too frustrating,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Having match points is the position you want to be in as a player, but it’s weird how the mind plays a trick on you. How much further I am from losing than he is, he should be the one that’s tight. But I told myself ‘If there is a third set, I’ll be there’.”
Draper, who is making his ATP return after six months away from the tour, looked rusty in the early stages and had to fend off multiple breakpoints on serve, but grew into the match and won 7-6, 6-3 against his opponent Quentin Halys who had come through qualifying.
The British No 1 faced a tough game at 4-5 down where he was taken to deuce three times but held serve. He carved out two breakpoints in the next game but was unable to take his opportunity. Although he raced to a 5-2 lead in the tie-break, he was pegged back before eventually winning the breaker 10-8.
When asked how it felt to be back on court, Draper replied: “It feels so good. Honestly, to be out here, to be competing in front of people, at a top opponent today, I think he was tricky, so great, and it could have been a bit cleaner from my side, but I haven’t played in there in a long time on the tour, so, really proud of the way it came out today, and hopefully, I can just keep on going. It felt like I was coming back to doing what I love, which is getting being out here, competing, and having that adrenaline of the winning and losing points.”
Draper has spent considerable time away from the tour, allowing him the chance to remodel his serve. “My serve was always a good shot, but it could have been more consistent over time,” he explained. “It’s something I looked at in terms of not only certain mechanics in the way that I’m maybe putting some stress on my arm. In 2023, I had an injury in my pec, and obviously, recently I had the bone stress, so I’m always looking at myself to see how I can get better. Maybe it’s helping myself in the long run, because my serve is more certain than ever in the past, and I have to get my arm back to being 100%.”
In the lead-up to this event, Draper and Auger-Aliassime made an impromptu visit to the stadium to inspire the next generation of fans with a fun on-court session comprising drills and training with young players, as well as sharing insights from their own tennis journeys.
“I think it’s really amazing to give back, especially to young players,” said the Brit. “I remember when I was much younger and how inspiring it was to be around players like Andy Murray.”
In other results, Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka beat Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 6-3 and Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard played three tie-breakers before winning 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 against Moez Echargui.
