Jack Draper's Grueling Victory at the Australian Open

The Grueling Match

British tennis player Jack Draper won a grueling five-set match against American Marcos Giron at the Australian Open on Tuesday, then immediately raced to a courtside bin to throw up. Draper defeated Giron 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 in a first-round match that lasted three hours and 20 minutes.

Draper vomits in a bin after his first-round victory in Melbourne.

After waiting at the net to shake his opponent's hand, the 22-year-old Briton ran over to a bin by the side of the court to be sick. It was Draper's first-ever victory in the main draw of the Australian Open and set up a second-round match against another American - 14th seed Tommy Paul.

Temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in Melbourne on Tuesday, and despite the heat, Draper attributed most of his physical struggles to the 'psychological stress' of playing at a grand slam.

Draper's physical issues were evident throughout the match against Giron as he took a medical timeout at the end of the second set and then left the court at the start of the third.

Draper also said that he suffered painful cramping in his stomach straight after the match, telling reporters: 'You can get it all over your body, but obviously when I did throw up, I was tensing my ab.'

The Psychological Struggle

Draper attributed most of his physical struggles to the 'psychological stress' of playing at a grand slam. 'I think it was more kind of psychological stress today that was causing my fatigue rather than the physical nature because I felt better in the fifth set than I did the first.'

At that point in the match, Draper took a break and returned to the court with renewed energy. He raced through the next set to love and won the final four games of the deciding set, sealing the victory when he whipped a forehand winner down the line to close out a 14-shot rally.

Draper expressed the need to work on handling the anxiety and nerves, stating, 'I obviously don’t want to play a match like that where I feel like I’m on my hands and knees a lot, and I’m struggling to breathe and calm myself down.'

Looking Ahead

The good news for Draper is that he defeated his next opponent, the 14th-seeded Paul, in straight sets at the Adelaide International last week, and now has a day to recover before Thursday’s second-round match.

Draper is into the second round of the Australian Open for the first time in his young career.