It was a close match for the Brit against the American giant, Reilly Opelka, but Jack Draper couldn't hold up against his opponent's massive service game, and would drop his opening Miami Open round 7-6, 7-6.
The loss would allow fellow countryman, Cam Norrie, to move past Draper as the No. 1 Brit on the ATP Tour, a place Draper had held for some time. All things considered, though, Draper is still working his way back from an injury, so a test against someone like Opelka was a good one.
Still, a first-round exit after a recent return from injury or feeling at tip-top shape is never a hopeful result, but even in the loss, Draper walked away feeling more optimistic than anything, and he should, considering how he fared at Indian Wells last week.
Jack Draper leaves Miami feeling good about his health, but knows more work is needed
At Indian Wells, Draper was playing just his second event since last year's US Open. Despite being off for that long, Draper was impressive, dispatching Novak Djokovic along the way to the quarterfinals before losing to Daniil Medvedev. Suffice it to say, Draper handled the desert considerably well.
In Miami, it didn't go quite as well as in California, but Draper showed no signs of discouragement after losing to Opelka. He is still making his way back after dealing with a complex bone bruise on his left, serving arm. He missed the season's opening Grand Slam in Australia because of it.
After his loss to Opelka, Draper admitted to Sky Sports he didn't fare well against the American's serve, but still left the match in good spirits.
“I didn’t have many chances, especially on his serve. I didn’t get broken in the match, so that was kind of my job, right?" Draper stated. "And, yeah, I guess I’m still at the very early stages of coming back from what was a very difficult injury to deal with. And if someone said that I’m going to be playing Dubai, Indian Wells, here, and go home feeling good, then I would have taken that, because it’s a long season to go and I know it’s going to be a long process as well.”
What Draper did well against Opelka was avoid facing any break points, though he secured only one of his own throughout the match. Opelka was simply too much in the end. Around this time last year, Draper would gear up for the clay court season and find much success.
He'll be moving in that direction once again, hoping to find similar success on clay this year. As long as he can come back from his injury and avoid further ones, don't be surprised if Draper climbs his way back to where he was a year ago. The Brit is one of the top players on tour, and it will be exciting to watch him get back to his best.