Jack Draper on Monday returned to the ATP Tour after almost six months away with a 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 win over Quentin Halys in the first round of the ATP 500 event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Briton in August last year withdrew ahead of the second round of the US Open. His only match since then was a straight-sets victory over Norwegian Viktor Durasovic in the Davis Cup on Feb. 2.
“It feels so good to be out here competing in front of people,” said Draper, who had climbed to No. 4 in the world rankings in June last year and is now at No. 12.
Photo: EPA
“It could have been a little cleaner from my side, but I hadn’t played on the tour for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been craving the feeling of competing for a very long time. It just felt normal. It felt like I was coming back to doing what I love.”
Earlier, top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime needed six match points before dispatching Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
“I stopped counting at some point, it was getting too frustrating,” the Canadian said. “Having match points is the position you want to be in as a player, but it’s weird how the mind plays a trick on you. How much further I am from losing than he is, he should be the one that’s tight.”
Auger-Aliassime, the losing finalist in Dubai last season, has reached the final of his past two tournaments this season — winning in Montpellier, France, before losing in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
He was next due to face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, whose big serve saved him in two tiebreaks as he beat Tunisian Moez Echargui 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4) for a first tour win since reaching the quarter-finals in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.
The Frenchman hit 29 aces, including one on match point.
Stan Wawrinka continued his farewell tour by beating Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 6-3 with Swiss Davis Cup and Olympic teammate Roger Federer, who won the Dubai event eight times, in the stands.
It was Wawrinka’s 10th tour-level win since turning 40, a record in the Open era.
In the round-of -16 of the men’s doubles, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and Shang Juncheng of China rallied from a set down to defeat Hendrik Jebens of Germany and Taiwan’s Ray Ho 4-6, 6-4, 12-10.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A dominant Cade Cunningham on Thursday scored 42 points as the NBA-leading Detroit Pistons swatted aside the New York Knicks 126-111 on the NBA’s return from its brief All-Star Game break. Billed as a must-watch clash between two Eastern Conference rivals each in red-hot form, the game at Madison Square Garden became an exhibition for Cunningham, who also provided 13 assists and eight rebounds. The 24-year-old burnished his credentials as a Most Valuable Player contender, helping a young, surprise-package Pistons side to improve the best record in the entire NBA this season so far, to 41-13. After the game, Cunningham said that he
Amanda Anisimova on Thursday ended a tearful Mirra Andreeva’s Dubai title defense with a comeback 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory in the quarter-finals. The second-seeded American trailed fifth seed Andreeva by a set and a break before rallying to complete a 2 hour, 38 minute win. She booked a place in the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the fourth time in her career. “I was almost in tears there at the end,” Anisimova said. “It made me emotional seeing her like that. I feel we both won today.” Anisimova was to face fellow American Jessica Pegula, who beat Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-3,
MEN’s FREESKI BIG AIR: Norway’s Tormod Frostad found an extra gear under the most intense pressure to post a winning total of 195.50 to top the podium Japanese teenager Ami Nakai on Tuesday set the pace in the Olympic women’s figure skating competition as freestyle skier Tormod Frostad soared to gold in an all-time classic big air final. Nikai, 17, upstaged teammate Kaori Sakamoto at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, while Alysa Liu of the US rounded out a powerful top three after the short program. Sakamoto is searching for an elusive gold at her final Winter Games, but faces a stiff challenge from a new generation of Japanese stars including Nakai and Mone Chiba. The 25-year-old Sakamoto, a relative veteran in the sport, won both of her segments in
Coco Gauff on Tuesday bounced back from her shock early exit in Doha last week with a comfortable victory over Anna Kalinskaya in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while Elena Rybakina opened her campaign with a dominant win. The American, who lost to lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her opening match in Qatar, made no such mistake against Kalinskaya, easing through the second-round tie 6-4, 6-4. Gauff is to face Belgian Elise Mertens in the last 16 of the WTA 1000 event. The two-time Grand Slam champion created headlines earlier this week for comments about anti-immigration policies in the US, saying: “I don’t think
RSS