Jack Draper British tennis player returns to compete in the ATP tournament after suffering an injury some time ago.
The world number 118 tennis player appeared impressive when he defeated the Portuguese national, Nuno Borges with a convincing result 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round of the 2023 Winston-Salem Open. The level 250 ATP tournament is his first tournament since the French Open this season after he suffered a shoulder injury.
“I had a really neat match. My opponents are really good players, so everyone is at this level,” said Jack Draper.
“It’s a pleasure to be back here, to Winston. I had great memories here last season, so I’m happy to be back here.”
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A season ago, the 21-year-old beat Italian, Fabio Fognini and Austrian, Dominic Thiem en route to the quarterfinals of the Winston-Salem Open. Against Borges, he shot 11 aces and didn’t face a single break point opportunity. While he managed to take advantage of four of the five break point opportunities he created. He also won 96 percent of the points on his first serve.
“I think my serve was amazing this time. I kept putting pressure on my returning games,” added Draper. “Last week when I returned to action in the Challenger event, I wasn’t as sharp when I started for the first time. But hopefully I can continue to build on this form and show you all some good tennis throughout the week.”
Awaiting Draper in the second round was the second seed, Tallo Griekspoor.
In the same draw, Australian tennis player, Max Purcell, who last week qualified for the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, maintained his slick performance by claiming a 6-4, 6-1 victory over the 2018 French Open semifinalist, Marco Cecchinato. This week he is chasing the first ATP tournament title of his career.
For a place in the third round of the Winston-Salem Open, Purcell will challenge the 16th seed, Emil Ruusuvuori.
Purcell’s compatriot Rinky Hijikata booked a second round match against top seed Borna Coric after a hard battle over Ukrainian international Ilya Marchenko 4-6 6-3. 6-2.
While the host tennis player, Michael Krueger qualified for the second round thanks to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pavel Kotov and will be against the fifth seed, Jiri Lehecka.
