Jack Draper has made a good start to his return from injury at the
Winston-Salem Open, winning his first match on the ATP Tour since May against Nuno Borges.
British tennis player Draper made his comeback at the ATP 250 event in North Carolina after being absent for three months. The 21-year-old sustained a shoulder injury at the Roland Garros but is now back just in time ahead of the US Open.
Draper began his comeback at a Challenger event in Winnipeg, Canada last week, making it to the quarter-finals where he lost to Arthur Cazaux. The former world No. 38 will be wanting to climb back up the ATP Rankings after he dropped to No. 118 during his recovery period.
Draper wins first match in straight sets
In his first round at the Winston-Salem Open, Draper played well to defeat Borges 6-3, 6-1. He dropped only two points on serve in the opening set and won 96% of points on first serve.
Speaking after the match, Draper expressed his joy at being back at Winston-Salem and on the ATP Tour in general.
"I played a really clean match. The guy is a really good player, so is everyone on this level. It’s good to be back here in Winston. I had amazing memories here last year, so I’m happy to be back," he said.
Draper also added that he was happy with how he played, particularly regarding his serve.
"I think my serve was amazing today. I kept on putting pressure on him on my return games. Last week I wasn’t too sharp when I first started back playing. But hopefully I can build on this performance and show you guys some good tennis all week," he continued.
Draper will have a tough challenge in his second round at the tournament as he is set to face second seed Tallon Griekspoor, who reached the final of the ATP 500 DC Open a few weeks ago.