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Feeble Friday turned into Super Saturday as Britain’s three leading men all surged into the third round of the Madrid Open, thus reversing the unhappy results of the previous 24 hours.
Friday’s matches at the Caja Magica had seen Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Emma Raducanu all depart the event, landing just a single set between them.
But Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper enjoyed better fortunes as they moved into the last 32 of this prestigious tournament. It is only the second time that there have been three British men in the third round of Madrid, with the previous instance coming in 2022.
Of the trio, Draper was the one whose form caught the eye. Having climbed to the lofty position of No 6 in the world, he is now the highest seed left in the bottom half of the draw, courtesy of Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal and Novak Djokovic’s defeat earlier in the day.
His performance more than justified the billing, as he squashed Tallon Griekspoor – a talented Dutchman ranked at No 34 – without showing the slightest sign of stress. The eventual 6-3, 6-4 scoreline failed to convey the one-sided feeling of the match. In 10 Draper service games, Griekspoor won a total of 12 points.
He was probably referring to the way that Draper was looking to finish points quickly by hammering his lefty forehand into the corners. Traditionally, clay rewards a more patient approach. But Madrid has always been something of an outlier on this front, because its 650m altitude means that the ball travels quickly through the thin air.
In the build-up to this match, Draper had told Sky Sports’s Karthi Gnanasegaram that he wanted to learn from the example of Rafael Nadal, and specifically the way that he used to run around his backhand to dominate with his lefty forehand.
That is exactly what Draper did here, in a match where he probably hit twice as many forehands as backhands. It takes agility and fast feet to favour one flank in this way, but then Draper has been training with his old friend Jannik Sinner – the world No1 who is on the verge of returning after a three-month doping ban – for much of the past week. All that sparring has clearly brought him to Madrid in confident mood.
