Jack Draper endured a five-set first-round battle at the Australian Open for the second year in a row.

Twelve months ago, England’s No. 1 goalkeeper vomited into a pitchside bin after a hard-fought victory over Marcos Giron in Melbourne’s sweltering heat.

With the weather being cooler and easier this time around, Draper’s biggest problem against Argentinian Mariano Navone was his own inconsistency as a hip injury disrupted the build-up.

Draper made a whopping 88 unforced errors and seemed about to lose in two sets to one, but after four hours and one second, Draper fought hard and won 4-6 6- 3 3-6 6-3 6-2 winning minutes.

After Navone’s last return ball flew out of bounds, the No. 15 seed raised his arms, then puffed up his cheeks and gave his opponent a tired hug.

Draper was forced to miss training with Carlos Alcaraz and the Confederations Cup due to a hip problem in pre-season, but he spoke confidently about his prospects ahead of the game.

However, the 23-year-old looked out of form from the start, making mistakes and mistimed shots as Navone took an early lead.

The British star, a potential dark horse after reaching the US Open semi-finals, came into the match in the second set and appeared to have turned the tables after breaking serve in the third.

But mistakes occurred again, and he lost serve twice in a row. Navoni, ranked 47th, finally won the set.

History almost repeated itself in the fourth set, with Draper breaking early but recovering, and had Navone taken more than one of his five break points, he likely would have prevailed.

But Draper fought back, breaking serve again to take a 5-3 lead, and finally found some breathing space in the deciding set, with Navone feeling the rhythm of his body.

The 23-year-old southpaw was the third British champion of the day After Judy Burrage and Harriet Dart.

he will face Thanasi Kokkinakis Next, the Australian fought back from a set down during a medical timeout and took painkillers to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in a first-round match that lasted more than four hours. Defeat Roman Safiullin.

“I could barely sleep last night, so anxious…it’s unbelievable to play in front of you,” he said, pointing to the home fans.

What’s coming to Sky Sports Tennis?

• ABN AMRO Rotterdam Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
• Dallas Open (ATP 500) – February 3-9
• Delray Beach Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• IEB+ Argentina Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• The 13th Provence Open (ATP 250) – February 10-16
• Transylvania Open (WTA 250) – February 3-9
• Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500) – February 3-8
• Qatar TotalEnergies Open (WTA 1000) – February 9-15
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship (WTA 1000) – February 16-22

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