A scratchy Rafael Nadal has survived a rocky first-round encounter in opposition to younger Brit Jack Draper to maintain his Australian Open defence alive.
Struggling to seek out kind, the top-seeded Spaniard overcame a cramp-ridden Draper to put up a 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1 of their their Rod Laver Arena showdown on Monday.
Draper was unable to maneuver freely for a lot of the fourth set, permitting new dad Nadal to run away with the match.
Nadal was relieved to discover a method in opposition to the world No.38, who he predicted would have a protracted and brilliant future at Melbourne Park.
“I need a victory, so that’s the main thing, doesn’t matter the way,” Nadal advised reporters.
“We know it’s not going to be perfect, it was not perfect, but to win against Jack, I think I did things well so I’m satisfied with the victory.”
Nadal, who solely gained one in all his earlier six matches main into the Open, had predicted a troublesome opening conflict with the 21-year-old, who is likely one of the rising stars on the ATP tour.
And the 36-year-old, who battled a run of accidents in 2022, was not unsuitable, though his personal unforced error rely of 46 contributed to the tense affair.
Nadal additionally wasn’t helped when a ball boy bizarrely took the unsuitable racquet halfway via the primary set for restringing, leaving the veteran digging into his bag for a alternative.
After burning via the second set, it appeared like Draper would possibly trigger a significant upset however the teenager began to cramp early within the third, which took the tempo off his service sport.
Nadal broke Draper within the fourth sport to take a 3-1 lead, however the Brit broke again within the eighth to stage at 4-4, earlier than the Spaniard kicked away.
After an outfit change, Draper appeared refreshed as he broke Nadal’s opening service sport however the world No.2, who took excessive seeding after the withdrawal of injured countryman Carlos Alcaraz, hit straight again.
Draper’s leg cramps then returned leaving him unable to run, with Nadal, who’s seeking to lengthen his all-time grand slam file of twenty-two titles, steaming via the ultimate set to wrap up the win.
He will face American Mackenzie McDonald in spherical two.
