Fresh out of a thrilling first-round five-setter, British No. 1 Jack Draper takes on the man he replaced, Cameron Norrie, in Thursday's Wimbledon round two match.
The Briton survived against qualifier Elias Ymer on Centre Court to avoid an embarrassing early exit, while his opponent picked his moments for a straight-set win over Facundo Diaz Acosta.
Match preview
A strong run pre-Wimbledon that included a Tour-level win in Stuttgart meant observers were backing Draper for a decent-to-good run at the All England Club this year.
However, that could have gone up in smoke after the 22-year-old needed five sets against the Swedish qualifier to advance following a topsy-turvy 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 tussle.
The British No. 1 admitted to being nervous early on after his match was moved to Centre Court last minute following Andy Murray's late withdrawal from the men's singles event.
Having come through the opening round's banana skin, Draper aims to kick on against Norrie as he seeks to at least match his best run at the Championships (2022) by defeating the man he replaced as Britain's leading men's player.
However, he must overcome a player he has never defeated on the ATP Tour to live up to all the pre-tournament hype.
Norrie's first-round match against Acosta was far less exacting than Draper's, leaving Britain's deposed top-ranked star the fresher player heading into their round two tussle.
The 28-year-old claimed the match in straight sets, notching a 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 triumph over his Argentine opponent to set up Thursday's all-British encounter.
While Norris exited in the second round last year, the No. 42-ranked player was one match away from a decider two years back, defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic despite taking the first set in that year's semi-final.
That remains the five-time Tour-level champion's best Grand Slam achievement, and he hopes to replicate that run on the seemingly kinder half of the men's draw.
Such ambitions are far away, but Norrie will back himself to edge past an opponent he has never lost to, keen to extend his 2-0 advantage on Draper.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Elias Ymer 3-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3
Cameron Norrie:
First round: vs. Facundo Diaz Acosta 7-5 7-5 6-3
Head To Head
Queen's Club (2021) - Quarter-final: Norrie 6-3 6-3
Miami Masters (2022) - Round of 64: Norrie 7-6[5] 6-4
Even though Norrie and Draper have never met in a best-of-five match on grass, the former British No. 1 got the better of his teenage opponent at the Queen's Club Championships in 2021, but much has changed since that 2021 match and their second encounter on hard courts in Miami the following year.
The younger player has come into Wimbledon on the back of winning in Stuttgart less than a month back, possibly putting him in the best place to defeat the more experienced Norris.
While the 28-year-old has outdone Draper's Tour-level titles 5-1, the five-time champion on the ATP Tour is yet to claim one in 2024, while the world No. 28 won his maiden title in Stuttgart.
Draper has also had a superior year, winning 20 of his 33 matches in the lead-up to Wimbledon, trumping Norrie's 14 wins from 27.
We say: Draper to win in four sets
Backing Draper to be third-time lucky against Norrie may be going against the set pattern, but the current British No. 1 has developed since the pair's last meeting in 2022.
Given his pre-Wimbledon momentum allied with surviving his first-round scare, the 22-year-old seems mentally primed to end his Norrie hoodoo on Thursday.
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