sport news Jack Draper is drawn against defending champion Rafael Nadal in first round of ... trends now
Opportunity knocks for Jack Draper at the Australian Open next week, where he will face top seed Rafael Nadal in a fascinating first round.
The 21 year-old from Surrey was pulled out of the hat against the Spanish legend barely an hour after he had dispatched world number 20 Karen Khachanov, thus making the semi-final of the ATP 250 event in Adelaide.
The battle of two southpaws was not the only high-profile draw involving British players next week with Andy Murray due to face 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
Jack Draper (above) has been drawn against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open
Nadal is top seed and will be a huge test for the British rising star next week
Emma Raducanu, who appears to be recovering from last week’s ankle injury, will face world number 74 Tamara Korpatsch of Germany. If she was to get past her there is the likelihood of a first career meeting with Coco Gauff.
There will not have been many better times to play defending champion Nadal, whose surge in the first half of last season very much evaporated at the back end of the year.
Draper underlined again his potential this morning by avenging last week’s defeat against the powerful Russian by beating him 6-4 7-6 to set up a match against unseeded Korean Soonwoo Kwon in South Australia on Friday.
‘It will be amazing to play on a big court against him, he is a great champion,’ he said of Nadal, top seed in the absence of US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Andy Murray faces Mateo Berrettini in his first round match at the Australian Open
‘There are a lot of emotions, thinking about playing him, but I have to still got to do well in this week’s tournament. Whatever happens it will be a special occasion for me, I’m still very young in my career, so it’s great to have these sort of experiences and exposure to playing Rafa on a big arena. I’ll just be trying to play well and do the best that I can.’
Since the US Open Nadal has lost six of his seven matches, including the two he has played this year, one of them against Britain’s Cam Norrie.
His serve looked to be below par in the recent United
