If Jack Draper is the man to fill at least some of the chasm left by Andy Murray, then how comforting for all of us that he has adopted the old swinger’s habit for mining drama from unexpected places. This was a quite stunning tribute act.
We saw some fabulous shots, but we also saw a few hefty wobbles, a racket-smashing tantrum and a minor capitulation, before, finally, a five-set win was delivered under a closed roof on Centre Court.
Murray, our broken hero, one of the greatest athletes this country has ever known, would have looked on proud from his treatment table.
Whether Draper will reflect on it all with any fondness is another matter. As the world No 28, he had 177 rungs on his opponent, the marvellously aggressive Elias Ymer, but was dragged into a crisis by the Swede’s big hitting and his own fallibilities.
That he prevailed will be the single point of relevance, meaning he will next face fellow Brit, Cameron Norrie, himself a former holder of the ‘Next Murray’ tag. Norrie beat Facundo Diaz Acosta 7-5, 7-5, 6-3, but his hype was never in keeping with that of Draper, a 22-year-old who in recent weeks won his first Tour-level title and followed it up by overcoming Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s.
Jack Draper put on quite the stunning tribute act on the day Andy Murray bowed out of SW19
Draper beat Elias Ymer (left) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the second round of Wimbledon
The fuss is with good reason and so there was a feeling of a torch being passed when Murray’s withdrawal in the morning was swiftly accompanied by news that Draper’s match was being brought over from Court No 2. He offered value for money, if not a consistently good performance in winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
The forehands were a treat and accounted for most of his 54 clean winners. But the 40 unforced errors and the countless slips of concentration will need to be refined if he is to hit expectations of breaking the top 10 before long.
For now, the going is good for a man who was roared on to the familiar cry of ‘come on, Andy’ and left to cheers in his own name.
At the microphone, he addressed them: ‘I know you probably wanted to see Andy out here but you’re stuck with me instead.
‘You guys were incredible and I love playing in front of loads of people. Honestly, it really helped me out here. There were some nervy moments so I appreciate all the support, it means a lot.
‘The No 1s who came before me, Tim Henman, Andy, Cam – I wouldn’t be here without Andy. What a guy he is off the court, so good, so kind, thank you very much, Andy.’
He had reason to sound so relieved. The opening set was a tale of baffling undulations, which saw Draper break Ymer in the very first game and then gave it straight back from 40-15, starting with an entirely unnecessary decision to play a shot through his legs. He botched it.
Draper dropped the first set as Ymer roared to a 6-3 win before the Brit won the next two
Draper has adopted Murray’s habit for mining drama from unexpected places
Draper’s forehands were a treat and accounted for most of his 54 clean winners
If that killed his momentum and the mood of the crowd, then the next break for 5-3 brought a hush to this grand old bowl.
Draper’s issue was a combination of a fluctuating focus and the sheer relentlessness of an opponent knowing this was a rare chance for centre stage. Ymer held to love to convert the set and by then had fizzed 14 winners and only four unforced errors.
The questions at that stage were how Draper might respond. An answer came when Draper broke for 3-1 and by then his quality was coming through – one drop shot at 0-15 brought the place to its feet. He generated the same reaction in the next game, in which fell to 0-40 before climbing from the hole via some big serving.
With the second set won, Draper was beginning to express himself. Some of his winners off that leftie forehand were fabulous as he stormed 3-1 ahead in the third.
Alas, the gremlins worked their way back in – with another slip in concentration, Ymer was able to break back for 3-3.
Similar vulnerabilities were shown when Draper, having pulled off an immediate response, came close to coughing it up all over again at 4-3. He held on, putting him one set away from the second round, but the turbulence continued with each man broken at the start of the fourth.
Murray, our broken hero, would have looked on proud from his treatment table
Murray, one of the greatest athletes this country has ever known, bowed out with injury
Draper’s work was getting tetchy by now – first the umpire started to receive some grumbles and then his racket was mangled when Ymer broke for 5-4. The Swede closed with a forehand winner.
With a delay to shut the roof, we were heading for a decider and further into Murray territory. Draper struck first, breaking to love for 3-1 after an Ymer double fault, and closed soon after with a backhand winner and a scream.
Norrie had few such dramas. The 2022 semi-finalist, whose recent travails place him 42nd in the standings, suffered a couple of breaks in the second set but enjoyed a gentle walk to face the man who has momentarily overtaken him in the battle to fill a hole.