WHAT HAPPENED: In a matchup of two young lefties, whose games appear to be mirror images of each other off the ground, No. 25 Jack Draper of Great Britain defeated the Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
A key difference in their games, though, is the 6-foot-4 Draper’s serve: it is the much bigger weapon. Draper has struck 336 aces on the year and Thursday, he won 91 percent of his first serves. Though both players are more comfortable behind the baseline, the Brit is by far the more willing to come to the net to force the issue.
On Thursday, Draper, 22, repeatedly demonstrated an interest in shortening points, displaying some fine touch and volleys at the net. For the afternoon, he was an outstanding 19 of 25 points in the forecourt.
Draper grabbed the early lead with a backhand winner to go up 2-1. The difference in the first set was simply that Draper was able to capitalize on his one break-point opportunity, while Diaz Acosta didn't convert any of the three he earned.
Serving for the first set at 5-4, Draper saved two break points, the second on a serve-and-volley. He held for the opening set, and quickly grabbed two more breaks of serve in the second behind offensive-minded play. The Brit served out the second set, winning it with a tricky backhand flick angled crosscourt. In the third, Draper cruised to victory.
Diaz Acosta, 23, from Buenos Aires, is most comfortable on his native clay, though it would seem that his game, with its penetrating groundstrokes, is quite adaptable to hard courts. However, coming into the Open, he had played just three matches on asphalt.
WHAT IT MEANS: Draper won his first ATP Tour title earlier this summer, on grass in Stuttgart, defeating two-time champion Matteo Berrettini. Draper came into the Open after a strong effort in Cincinnati, where he reached the quarters after defeating No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Brit also reached the quarterfinal at Queen’s Club, where he took out No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, the biggest win of Draper’s career.
At last year’s US Open, Draper advanced to the Round of 16, with a win over No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz—his best performance to date at a major. With a win in the next round, Draper has a chance to equal that run.
Diaz Acosta has been as high as No. 47, but this is his first time past the opening round of a major. Diaz Acosta’s strongest results have come, predictably, on clay. He won his first ATP Tour title earlier this year in his hometown of Buenos Aires; he also reached the semifinal at Kitsbuhel; and the quarterfinal in Barcelona, where he extended Tsitsipas to a third-set tiebreak.
MATCH POINT: Draper was born into a tennis family: His father, Roger, is a former Lawn Tennis Association executive in the UK, while his mother, Nicky, is a former top junior tennis player in Britain. When Draper is not on court, he can be seen in the pages of fashion magazines as an IMG model.
