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Jack Draper made a winning return to action on the ATP Tour at the Lexus Eastbourne Open, with fellow Brits Jack Pinnington Jones and Jan Choinski also earning victories in their home tournament.
Having been sidelined with a knee injury since April, the British number two fended off a late comeback from lucky loser Marcos Giron to defeat him 6-4, 7-6(5) in front of a home crowd on the south coast.
It was also a winning start for the new partnership with the former world number one and three-time Grand Slam winner, Andy Murray, as he watched from the stands at the ATP 250 event, with Draper putting in a strong performance on his return to action.
Wrapping up the first set in 35 minutes, dropping just one point behind his first serve, the 24-year-old broke quickly in the second and had the opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4, but Giron managed to convert one of the three break-back points to force a tie-break.
Playing in his first competitive match in nearly two months, Draper held his nerve to come out on top in the tie-break and secure his spot in the second round.
With Murray watching on his coaching box after forming a partnership last month, Draper is glad to have him in his corner after an ‘incredibly difficult’ year.
“Andy, truthfully, is one of my biggest inspirations,” he said, speaking on court after the match. “When I was younger, I remember him playing all of the big events. When I came onto the Tour, we spent some time together and we have a great relationship off the court. He believes in my game. He believes in me as a person. That’s what I really need right now, coming back from the year I’ve had.”
Draper has now set a meeting with British player and wildcard Pinnington Jones, who defeated Marco Trungelliti 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 on centre court.
Success for Pinnington Jones and Choinski
The 23-year-old recovered from one set down against the Argentine before saving a match point in the third and deciding set to overcome the lucky loser in two hours and 47 minutes under the blistering Eastbourne sun.
It was a chaotic morning for the Brit who was scheduled to play another Argentinian in Camilo Ugo Carabelli, but he withdrew just moments before the match got underway and set up the encounter with Trungelliti, securing his third win over a top-100 player this year.
Reflecting on an unusual start this morning with a last-minute change to an opponent, he said: “It was pretty weird – 10 minutes before going on, I was told it was a lucky loser playing. Marco (Trungelliti) is a veteran, he hit on the court with me this morning warming up – I knew he was around and ready to go.
“It was a bit of a change, we obviously had a game plan for the other opponent and at the last minute had to throw something together and to be honest, I think I executed it reasonably well considering he’s obviously an excellent player and I’m very happy to be through.”
Elsewhere, qualifier Choinski produced a stunning performance on Monday evening to defeat Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.
The 30-year-old came from one set down to turn the match on its head and push aside the world number 100, Popyrin, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 for just his third tour-level win of his career.
He will face the four-time champion and top seed Taylor Fritz in the second round on Wednesday.
Defeats for Klugman and Jones
On the Women’s side, there was less success for our Brits with Francesca Jones and Hannah Klugman suffering defeats in the first round at Devonshire Park.
Teenager Klugman narrowly lost out in a tight contest against Tereza Valentova, falling to a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 loss.
The 17-year-old, who earned her first WTA-tour level win last week in Nottingham, was competitive against the world number 61 and forced a deciding set in the second, converting a break point in the final game of the second.
However, after just over three hours on the south coast, Valentova’s experience shone through and earned her spot in the second round of the tournament.
As for Jones, she lost out to former champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2 on Centre Court in just over an hour.
In the doubles main draw, Marcus Willis and David Stevenson overcame an all-Brazilian pairing of Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz 7-6, 3-6, 13-11 to progress on home soil.
Brit Luke Johnson and his partner Jan Zielinski defeated the all-Brit pair Joshua Parris and Ben Jones while Alicia Dudeney and Emily Appleton suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Miyu Kato and Kamilla Rakhimova.
