Rafael Nadal praises Jack Draper after hard-fought first-round win

| by Sebastian Dahlman

While the scoreline looks very comfortable the match itself was anything but comfortable for Rafael Nadal who barely won the 3rd set.

With a decisive 6-2 victory in the second set, Draper evened the score at 1-1. In the third set, he recovered from a 1-4 deficit to extend the set. Nadal was pleased with his victory even though it came down to a few points in some crucial rallies.

He’s a great player with a lot of potential, young. A great future in front, I think. So [it] was a tough, tough match. Full respect for him. Wish him well for the future.

Nadal on Draper post-match

Draper needs to get tougher physically to handle matches like this. His fatigue issues have been rather known and he suffered a health scare in Miami when he collapsed in the heat last year. Nadal added that he hopes it was just cramping and nothing worse.

 I think it's only cramping that happened at the end to him. Hopefully it’s nothing important. But I think he is in the right position to have a very productive season. I am happy that I was able to win against a great player this afternoon.

Nadal expands on Draper

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