After Wednesday's thrilling five-setter against home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis, marathon man Jack Draper will take on a partisan crowd in Friday's Australian Open third-round tussle with Aleksandar Vukic.
The battling Brit seemed out of ideas and resigned to exiting in the second round, only to roar back to claim sets four and five to set up another meeting with an Aussie for a place in the fourth round against Carlos Alcaraz or Nuno Borges.
Match preview
© Imago
After spending just over four hours on court in his round-one victory over Mariano Navone, Britain's No. 1 men's player then went four hours and 35 minutes against walking-wounded Kokkinakis, yet again mounting a fightback despite trailing heading into the fourth set.
However, unlike in his tournament opener, Draper's opponent in the second round served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth, but the 23-year-old reeled off another three games to stun expectant home fans to take set four 7-5 before taking the decider for a 6-7(3), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Despite coming into the opening Slam of the year with zero competitive action, the world No. 18 has already outdone his previous best Down Under when he reached last year's second round.
Although he had never advanced past the second round of any major outside of the US Open, Draper has made it to a third match in Melbourne for the first time, doubling his Australian Open win total, having previously won only one match in the tournament.
The two-time tour champion enters Friday's match as the undoubted favourite, though he should anticipate another hostile crowd against Vukic.
© Imago
This is all new to the 28-year-old home player, who failed to advance beyond his tournament-opening Grand Slam matches in three of the four leading events last year and previously never went beyond the second round on home turf – reaching round two in 2022 and this year.
However, the world No. 68 has progressed to a third match at a major for the first time after getting the better of Damir Dzumhur and No. 22 seed Sebastian Korda in back-to-back five-setters.
Unlike Draper, though, Vukic's victories in rounds one and two lasted just over three hours, even though an extended rain delay against Korda took Wednesday's match time to six hours and 34 minutes.
Having broken new ground to become the oldest Australian since Wayne Arthurs in 2001 to make his third-round debut, the home player seeks his biggest career victory against the Brit.
With the home crowd in his corner, Vukic will hope to use that support as fuel to advance to a round-four match at Draper's expense, possibly to meet Alcaraz.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Mariano Navone 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2
Second round: vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7[3] 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-3
Aleksandar Vukic:
First round: vs. Damir Dzumhur 6-7[3] 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-4
Second round: vs. Sebastian Korda 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-5
Head To Head
Both men enter their first meeting on the ATP Tour having twice turned around deficits to win sets four and five in their opening two rounds.
After losing three consecutive matches against opponents in the top 50 — Karen Khachanov, Grigor Dimitrov and Marcos Giron — Vukic ended that run by beating Korda and now seeks his fourth top-20 victory when he takes on Draper — the 28-year-old is 3-14 in such encounters.
We say: Draper to win in four sets
This year's marathon men compete, with neither previously making it this far at Melbourne Park.
Both battle-hardened, another thrilling tussle should ensue on Friday, and Draper is backed to send the one-sided crowd home disappointed by getting the better of Vukic.
