Jack Draper crashes out of Monte Carlo Open after being ousted by world No 13 Hubert Hurkacz… but the young Brit shows plenty more promise in the painful second-round defeat
- Jack Draper received a painful but valuable education at the Monte Carlo Open
- The 21-year-old was narrowly beaten 6-3 6-7 7-5 by world No 13 Hubert Hurkacz
Jack Draper received a painful but valuable education in his first appearance at the Monte Carlo Open when he was narrowly ousted by world No 13 Hubert Hurkacz.
He became the last of four British singles players to go out when beaten 6-3 6-7 7-5 by the Pole in the second round, having looked set to take the match to a sudden death tiebreak.
The 21-year-old from Surrey led 40-0 at 5-6 in the decider, but failed to put away an overhead in a five-point sequence at the end which saw the match slip agonisingly away.
In coming back from 0-5 in the first set and then 2-4 in the third Draper again showed plenty of promise against Hurkacz, who served 20 aces, often when they were most needed.
Hurkacz had shown excellent sportsmanship in the first tiebreak by conceding a let at 2-3 down, when the machine on the netcord failed to register that the ball had touched the net.
Jack Draper (pictured) received a painful but valuable education at the Monte Carlo Open when he was narrowly ousted by world No 13 Hubert Hurkacz
He was beaten by Hurkacz in the second round, despite nearly forcing a sudden death tiebreak
Draper was the only Brit to win a match, with Dan Evans on Tuesday powerless to prevent a comeback from Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, who won 2-6 6-2 6-3.
Andy Murray and Cam Norrie both made disappointing exits on Monday in the first significant tournament of the clay court season.
After being barred from last month’s events in the US due to his vaccination status Novak Djokovic was back in action for the first time since Dubai, and was forced to work hard by little-known Ivan Gakhov before winning 7-6 (5) 6-2.