It was also an example of the power of keeping your expectations low. Beforehand, Draper, who is returning from a long injury layoff, said he was just happy to be able to compete again, and whatever else happened was a bonus. So it wasn’t surprising that he started a little tentatively against the man he calls the “best tennis player there is.”
By the start of the second set, though, the defending champ was feeling at home again in front of the buzzing night crowd. From that point on, he was the one running down every ball in sight. He was the one firing off forehand missiles, dipping backhand returns, and shoestring passes that Djokovic could only applaud. He was the one who had the Serb doubled over and gasping for breath. In the final-set tiebreaker, a moment where Djokovic usually excels, it was Draper who was braver, especially from the backhand side, and who was rewarded for it.
“I got the crowd backing me, and I felt the energy,” said Djokovic, who nearly rose from the grave once again late in the third. “It was, like, ‘Maybe I’m gonna take this one.’ It was so close, so close. I mean, just unfortunate few mistakes from my side. Tiebreak, 4-3 up. 5-all, as well. That’s tennis.”
