JACK DRAPER, this is not what Wimbledon expects from its British No1s.
As Union Jack became the home nation’s standard-bearer at the All England Club for the first time, it was all too easy.
Jack Draper cruised into round two at Wimbledon[/caption]
Sebastian Baez applauds the No1 Court crowd after being forced to retire[/caption]
Britain has become used to Andy Murray and Tim Henman putting them through the mincer in tense late-night epics – and maybe there will be some of that to come during this fortnight.
But fourth-seed Draper cruised to victory over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez – who retired hurt, two sets and a break down – as he booked a second-round date with former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic.
Draper has all many of the attributes which will make him a darling of the middle-England housewives who dominate the crowd here.
He is a tall, chiselled Burberry model with a walloping forehand, a booming serve and impressive athleticism.
Murray is to have a statue here, but Draper is statuesque.
Perhaps the 23-year-old southpaw needs one of those seesawing five-set marathons to truly get the British public enraptured by him. We need to experience the agonies together before we can truly appreciate the good times.
But on a blazing-hot 30-degree day at Wimbledon, this match was the sort of breeze we all needed – Draper leading 6-2 6-2 2-1 before it was called off.
Baez, a clay-court specialist, was blown away in just 74 minutes before he surrendered.
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Draper had reached the second week at every other Grand Slam but has never made it past the second round here on home turf.
His ranking has soared over the past year – via a U.S Open semi-final – and so this was the first time he had truly carried the nation’s hopes at the All England Club like Sir Andy and Tiger Tim before him.
Fittingly, Draper was handed the prime-time late slot – striding on to Court One to muted cheers. Outside of the lawn-tennis hardcore, the public haven’t quite got to know him yet.
The Brit had already beaten Baez in their two previous meetings and at 6ft 4in, he was almost a foot taller than the Argentinian titch.
The first set took just 26 minutes.
He broke the Baez serve in a lengthy, scrappy opening game and again in the fifth. In between he was thudding down four aces.
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One booming cross-court service-return winner, as Baez served to stay in the set, brought a huge roar from the Pimmsed-up faithful.
Draper broke again in the opening game of the second set, Baez slipping near the baseline – and soon needing lengthy treatment.
The Brit’s serve was firing, his velocity and variety overpowering Baez. It was more like a bloke playing fetch with a puppy.
Draper broke again with a whipped forehand winner and, just after the hour mark, he was two sets to the good, having dropped only four points on his own serve.
In the third, Draper had to wait until the third game to break Baez, who then hoisted up the white flag and retired with a bruised ego.
There had been good news for Draper before he went on court when his tricky potential third-round opponent, Alexander Bublik – who had defeated the Brit in the French Open, suffered a shock defeat to Spain’s Jaume Munar.
Still, he is slated to face 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and Jannik Sinner in the semis before the possibility of reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
Should Draper advance into that sort of company, then we can really get to know him.
