As anticipated, young Briton Jack Draper was a challenging competitor for Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the preliminary of the Australian Open. He played a strong game and also offered the existing champ a lot of job, but he couldn’t stand up to as well as wound up relapsing with the last rating of 7/5, 2/6, 6/4 and 6/1, after 3h43 of confrontation.
The following opponent in Rafa’s path will certainly be the American Mackenzie McDonald, that suffered a lot more to get through the first round, beating compatriot Brandon Nakashima in a battle of five sets, 3 tiebreaks and 4h09 of duration, with the partials of 7/ 6 (7-5), 7/6 (7-1), 1/6, 6/7 (10-12) and 6/4. Both faced each other as soon as before on the circuit, with the Spaniard’s success in the second round of Roland Garros in 2020.
El primer quiebre del partido…
En el momento más oportuno para @RafaelNadal 😏@AustralianOpen | #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/3keDjHvQAI
— ATP Tour en Español (@ATPTour_ES) January 16, 2023
Nadal began playing effectively as well as had an interesting initial set. With 15 champions as well as simply 10 errors, the Spaniard was sharp with the serve, striking 73% of his initial services on the court and winning 83% of the points when he put the round right into play. This performance indicated that Draper didn’t also have a chance of breaking, while the Spaniard benefited from one of the two break-points he had.
VAMOS 🇪🇸@RafaelNadal defeats Jack Draper 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1 to advance to R2 💪@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 16, 2023
Rafa’s uniformity and also efficiency with the serve did not stay at the same degree for the remainder of the match, particularly in the second set, where the drop was sharp. With only 7 winning balls and also two times as numerous unforced mistakes, he won only 52% of the factors with the serve, was controlled in the opening games and also virtually took a ‘tire’. Draper also had two break-points with the Spaniard offering at 0/4, but Nadal saved himself and prevented an extra flexible score.
After the decrease in performance as well as the scare in the previous part, the left-hander from Mallorca was back on the court, but he didn’t return to the degree of the beginning. That was enough to make the match also as well as take the lead in the 3rd collection, with a break in the 4th game. The young Briton felt a thigh problem prior to losing the offer, after that asked for focus and also came back better, managing to return the break to link 4/4. But in the last stretch, Nadal pressed and also struck his competitor’s offer once more to make it 2-1.
The physique wound up determining the result in the fourth set, with Draper experiencing once again to move. The British even opened the partial with a break in the initial game, but after that shed the following six video games as well as wound up removed by Nadal, that closed the game with 41 champions as well as 46 unforced mistakes, while the challenger had 35 winners and also 45 unforced mistakes.
