British No. 1 Jack Draper came back from the brink of elimination to seal his spot in the third-round of the Australian Open with a 6-7 (7), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Kokkinankis took the first set on a tie-break despite making a staggering 19 unforced errors. But the Australian’s strong serve — on which he conceded just five points — put him in the driver’s seat.
Draper got a better hold of Kokkinankis’ serve and broke him at the first time of asking in the second set and went on to claim it 6-3.
The Australian took a medical timeout in the third set for an apparent pectoral issue but he went on to win the set after he held serve in a 16-minute game before breaking Draper immediately after.
Battling not just Kokkinakis but also a fervent home crowd, Draper faced an uphill task and was on the brink of defeat in the fourth set after finding himself 5-3 down. But, he remarkably fought back to break the Australian without dropping a point and then held serve to force a fifth set.
It was the Brit’s second successive five-setter in the tournament, following his win over Mariano Navone in the first-round, and he rode on the momentum from the fourth set to win the final one 6-3 and book his spot in the next round.
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