
The rising star of British tennis, Draper had already toppled players like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem earlier in August and he made light work of his meeting with Auger-Aliassime on Louis Armstrong Stadium, one of the biggest stages in his sport. Late into the night, Draper continued his brilliant US Open debut with a remarkable win over Auger-Aliassime in which the Briton's serve was never broken. But he's a brilliant young player and he's going to have a very bright future." Draper advances with biggest win of career Jack Draper reached the second round at Wimbledon this year

"I started to hit the ball deeper and I think his level dropped a bit.

"I think I started to take the ball on a little bit more, he was dictating a lot of the points," Murray said. The dominance continued into the third set and the three-time major champion, using all his experience and know-how to force mistakes from Nava, won 17 of the final 19 games. Murray was encouraged by a dip of energy from Nava, breaking serve for a 3-2 lead in the second and never looking like he would relinquish the advantage. The next question was whether Nava - making his debut on Ashe - could maintain a high level that was way above his ranking. Murray moved into the second round with a comfortable win against 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo, which was the first time he had won a match at a major in straight sets since 2017.īut 20-year-old wildcard Nava had to come through a gruelling five-setter and their contrasting energy levels eventually proved a key difference.īefore Wednesday's match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Murray revealed he had practised with Nava earlier this week and said it was helpful to get a feel of his soon-to-be opponent's ball.īut he must have still been surprised by world number 203 Nava's level in a marathon first set.Īfter failing to serve out at 5-3, Nava clinched an 84-minute opener by breaking Murray's serve again from deuce at 6-5, thanks to a pair of stunning forehand winners from deep in the court. "I feel like I'm getting closer to where I want to be." "My movement is by far the best it has been in a long time and it has obviously been a big part of my game. "Physically this is the best I've felt in the past few years," Murray said.

Since having the hip surgery that he feared could end his career in 2019, Murray had only reached the third round at a Grand Slam event once when he lost to Canada's Denis Shapovalov at Wimbledon in 2021.Įventually he reached the same stage again at Flushing Meadows, where he won his first major title in 2012, after wearing down Nava.

