Jack Draper began his warm-up for Wimbledon with a swift win under a scorching sun in his first grasscourt match of the season.
The British No.1 needed only 77 minutes to beat world No.149 Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6–1 in the first round of the HSBC Championships.
He took his first match point in his first appearance in the newly-named Andy Murray Arena with his eighth ace.
Draper stated before the ATP 500 event at Queen’s Club that he wanted to “peak” at his home Grand Slam which starts on June 30.
And the world No.6 will face tougher opponents over the next few weeks in London. Brooksby, who served an eight-month ban in 2023-24 after missing three out-of-competition tests, is named after Jenson Button. But The Californian’s unusual serve is not as fast as the former Formula One driver and Draper broke him twice in each set while not facing a break point. Brooksby won only 39% of points on his second serve – mostly because the No.2 seed could not decide where to smack the slow delivery.
Draper’s biggest challenge was keeping hydrated in the heat and he applied ice to his neck at every changeover.
His romp to victory was delayed at 3-0 the second set for treatment to a spectator who was suffering in the heat.
He will face Aussie world No.21 Alexei Popryin in the second round on Thursday.
Draper has fallen down to world No.6 after not defending his title at the Boss Open in Stuttgart last week. Taylor Fritz, who is also in the field at Queen’s Club won the event and is now up to world No.4. Wimbledon seedings are determined by the world rankings on Monday (June 23) and getting back into the top four this week would see the British No.1 avoid either Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz until the semi-finals.
Speaking before the start of the Queen’s Club event, last year’s US Open semi-finalist said:
“Obviously, I’d love to do amazingly well this week, but Wimbledon would be a priority for me. I think it’s always an interesting one, that first natural tournament on the grass, there’s a lot of players who maybe aren’t amazingly prepared. We have come from a surface where we’re grinding out points, having to win the points seven times on the trot to get one point. So coming onto a really fast surface, obviously, the margins are quite small, but I feel good, and I’m ready to compete hard. It’s a home tournament for me as well – so that’s added motivation for me to do well here. But for sure, Wimbledon would be where I want to peak the most.”
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