Britain’s Jack Draper is through to the second round at Wimbledon to face compatriot Cam Norrie after an exhausting and entertaining five-set epic against Sweden’s Elias Ymer.
Draper ultimately came out victorious from a topsy-turvy contest 3-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3 as the Centre Court roof eventually had to be shut and the floodlights switched on.
The 22-year-old – who was playing on Centre Court due to Andy Murray’s earlier injury withdrawal – will now face Norrie after he defeated Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta 7-5 7-5 6-3 in his tournament opener.
Having succumbed to lose the opening set largely due to 28-year-old Ymer’s impressive knack for striking forehand winners onto the baseline, 28th seed Draper responded to take charge in the following two sets.
The Brit broke his opponent three times across the two sets, connecting more frequently with his devastating left-arm forehand, and producing more consistency with his powerful serve.
A tight fourth set then appeared to be heading Draper’s way, only for Ymer to break him at 4-4 just after the home favourite had used his final challenge for the set, and then been unhappy with a service-line call he could not then review.
On a no doubt frustrating evening, Draper kept his composure to eventually secure victory
With Ymer serving for the set, Draper forced his way to 0-40 and three break point chances, but an immense show of serving and mettle saw the Swede get things to deuce, ultimately winning five points in a row to take things to a fifth-set decider.
After a brief delay for the Centre Court roof to be closed, Draper started on top in the fifth and never let up, breaking Ymer to go 3-1 ahead and crucially consolidating with a strong hold of serve for 4-1.
Ymer saved four break points to win the next game for 4-2, but Draper held to 15 and then produced two aces in his final service game en route to a dramatic victory.
“I really enjoyed it, to play in front of you guys, I missed it last year,” Draper said on court afterwards. “You probably wanted to see Andy [Murray] out here but you were stuck with me instead.
“It really helped me out here, there were some nervy moments, I appreciate the support it means a lot.
“What an honour [to fill in for Murray], honestly! I wouldn’t be here without Andy, such a guy off the court, so genuine, so kind, what a champion and what a competitor.”
Unseeded Norrie, 28, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, said of facing Draper: “He’s a really good friend of mine. We’ve practised together so many times and we always have high-level practices and we always have positive energy.
“I always want him to do well. I would love to play him at Wimbledon, it would be a special one.”
Jubb suffers agonising exit
Paul Jubb missed out on a first Wimbledon win in agonising fashion, falling in five sets to big-hitting Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Jubb led by two sets to love and had a match point in the third-set tie-break but he could not take it and Seyboth Wild fought back to win 1-6 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 7-5.
“I think that’s the main thing that’s kind of hanging over my head right now is I really wanted to tick that one off the list as one of my childhood dreams. One point away is brutal,” Jubb said.
“This is definitely where I feel I belong. My level is there. I’m good enough to compete in the top 100 and beat top-100 guys. I was injured and had to start from scratch. So I’ve just got to work my way up.”
Fearnley’s dream start
British wild card Jacob Fearnley continued his dream summer with a straight-sets victory over Alejandro Moro Canas to set up a second-round tie with Novak Djokovic.
Fearnley only finished his five-year stint at Texas Christian University in May and was ranked outside the top 500 until he won an ATP Challenger event in Nottingham as a qualifier last month.
It helped earn the 22-year-old from Scotland a wild card for this year’s Championships and he marked his debut with a 7-5 6-4 7-6 (14-12) victory on a buoyant Court Eight.
World No 277 Fearnley arrived at SW19 after a narrow defeat in Eastbourne to compatriot Billy Harris, who was beaten on debut by Jaume Munar in the opening round on Tuesday.
Choinski beaten in epic after delay
British wild card Jan Choinski suffered a painful exit of his own following defeat to world No 37 Luciano Darderi in a rain-delayed five-set thriller.
German-born Choinski was a set and a game down in the first-round tie when play was initially suspended due to wet weather.
The towering 28-year-old impressively hit back to lead but Italian Darderi levelled at two sets all ahead of a second enforced break in play before completing a 7-5 4-6 2-6 7-5 6-2 win in three-and-a-half hours.
World No 174 Choinski was back on Court 17, where he fought back to defeat Dusan Lajovic in four sets on his main draw debut last year.
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