Jack Draper was far from his best but still managed to secure his passage through to the second round of the US Open with a battling 6-4 7-5 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 win over Federico Gomez.
Draper, out since July 3 with bone bruising of his left arm, looked rusty and lacking in match fitness as he finally overcame Gomez, a 28-year-old qualifier ranked 203rd in the world.
In his first competitive singles action since his second-round exit at Wimbledon, there continues to be concern over the health of Draper’s arm as the British No 1 targets another deep run at Flushing Meadows following his semi-final showing last year.
Jack Draper came through a tough opening test against Federico Gomez at the US Open
With Gomez holding his own through the opening six games of the match, Draper – the world No 5 – stepped things up a gear to break and move clear 4-3 ahead after winning consecutive games to love.
Having closed out the first set, Draper broke Gomez again early in the second before then spurning three chances for the double break at 3-1.
Dominant at the time, it didn’t look like the missed opportunity would prove too costly, despite the odd eye-catching winner and spot of showboating from Gomez behind the baseline.
But the Argentine grew stronger as the set wore on, with Draper, by contrast, fading as he was broken when serving for the second set up 5-4.
With parity restored, Gomez’s game suddenly tightened up, allowing Draper to break back immediately and, at the second attempt, the 23-year-old secured his two-set advantage.
The third set was to be even more fraught than the second for Draper, who was broken straight away to fall into a 3-0 hole.
Though he rallied impressively from there, dropping only three points across his next five service games and breaking Gomez back in the seventh game, he’d lose out in a tiebreaker after spurning a match point up 6-5.
Draper extinguished Gomez’s hopes of a stunning comeback when he finally closed out a gruelling contest in just over three hours with consecutive breaks of serve to take the fourth set 6-2 and secure his spot in the second round.
Norrie profits from Korda retirement to reach second round
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Highlights from the US Open first-round clash between Cameron Norrie and Sebastian Korda
Cameron Norrie profited from the injury-induced retirement of opponent Sebastian Korda to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows.
American Korda began to show signs of a back injury early in the contest and, after losing the second set to trail 7-5 6-4, he pulled the plug, sending Norrie through to the last 64 for the sixth time at Flushing Meadows.
“I feel for Seb, he’s been out pretty much the whole summer. He’s an amazing talent and he’s beaten me the last few times we’ve played,” said Norrie. “It’s good to see him back playing but tough to see him finish like that.
“It was a tough first set. It could have gone either way; I saved a lot of break points and managed to play very well at the end, while he dropped a little bit at the end of the first.
“It was tricky; he was serve and volleying a lot, giving me no rhythm, but I managed to play a really tough game at the end there.”
The British No 2 was forced to miss the US Open last year because of an arm problem and will hope to pick up the momentum again following his run to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
Norrie, ranked 35th in the world, arrived in New York on a three-match losing run but began well in what was initially a close contest on a packed Court 17.
After Korda saved three break points at 4-4, Norrie took advantage of another chance two games later, letting out a huge roar towards his support camp.
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Norrie admits he felt for Korda after he was forced to retire injured during their contest
He served out the set and then immediately broke serve again at the start of the second, prompting Korda to call the trainer for treatment to his back. The 25-year-old is only just back on tour following three months out with a shin injury.
It was no surprise, therefore, that he was left hanging his head at yet more physical issues and, after Norrie withstood pressure to serve out the second set, Korda opted to call it a day.
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