Jack Draper survives huge scare to win Wimbledon thriller against Elias Ymer

Jack Draper survived a massive scare against Elias Ymer to get a win in his long-awaited return to Wimbledon. The new British No. 1 was forced to miss his home Grand Slam event last year due to injury.

He was originally scheduled to face the qualifier on Court 2 on Tuesday. But he got a sudden upgrade to Centre when Andy Murray pulled out of the singles draw.

And Draper made sure that the home crowd still had a man to cheer for, surviving a five-set rollercoaster to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3 in three hours and 17 minutes. He will now face countryman Cameron Norrie in an all-British second-round clash.

Seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time, Draper came in on form after lifting his first career title in Stuttgart and beating Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s. And he was handed a sudden change in schedule, being bumped up to Centre Court hours before his match.

Coming out to replace Murray after the former No. 1 withdrew, Draper pounced immediately and broke in the first game. But Ymer was keen to prove that he was a worthy opponent and wouldn’t let Draper get an easy win. He sent a forehand winner straight past the 28th seed to break straight back and kept on rolling, firing down 14 winners in a statement first set as he broke again and took it 6-3.

The qualifier started to feel the pressure in the second set and handed the Brit a break with a double fault. The speed on 6’4 Draper’s serves crept up and he saved three break points to extend his lead, eventually levelling the score at 6-3. He carried his momentum into the third and broke to love as the world No. 205’s unforced error count quickly increased.

Ymer passed Draper to even things up at 3-3 as the Brit could only shrug in disbelief. Just when it looked like the qualifier found a second wind, he relinquished and hit four unforced errors in one game to give Draper the advantage again. The 22-year-old won his third straight game on a return winner to take the third set.

The rollercoaster continued in the fourth as both men traded breaks to start. Draper dug himself out of a hole and earned a huge hold, roaring as he saved four break points to stay ahead. But he was left frustrated later in the set after blowing all of his challenges and being unable to check a first serve that got called out.

Draper followed up with a double fault and the set quickly ran away from him. Ymer broke and the Brit blew three crucial break-back points as the qualifier forced a decider at 8.30pm. The roof was closed to turn the lights on and the brief break served Draper well. The lefty Brit caused trouble for Ymer, drawing out errors from his opponent before the Swede served a double fault to gift Draper a crucial break at 3-1. With the roof closed, the cheers of Draper’s home crowd rang out around Centre Court.