Jack Draper Wins His First ATP Match Since May On Comeback From Injury

| by Evita Mueller

Jack Draper returned to the ATP Tour at the Winston-Salem Open, and he won his first match since May on the Tour.

Draper actually made a return last week at the Winnipeg challenger, winning a few matches but failing to go all the way. He lost to Arthur Cazaux, a player who made the final at the event but lost to Ryan Peniston. It wasn't an ideal return for Draper, but he won a couple of matches and got some playing time.

That was good enough to get him ready for this event. The draw was relatively fair, giving him a player who is not known for his hard court prowess even though he's a solid player. The other problem for Nuno Borges was the fact that he himself missed a lot of action due to injuries.

It was clear that Borges needed playing time, especially in the second set when Draper caught a really good level. The first set saw both players play well, but eventually, Draper got the break he needed and added another one to win the opening set.

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He was sensational on his serve, dropping only two points altogether and winning 14/14 behind his first serve. Eight of those came behind aces, so that's greatly helped. Draper had his lefty working well all match long, especially in the second set, as Borges started to fall behind.

The Portuguese player generally plays his best tennis on clay, but he did fairly well here. Draper didn't find too many solutions on the first serve of Borges, but he did find many on the second serve. Being quite aggressive and looking to finish off points quickly certainly helped.

The final score was 6-3 6-1 for the Brit who moves on to the next round. Draper played here last year as well, making the quarter-final.

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