Draper’s earlier journeys to Roland Garros have been memorable for the incorrect causes.
The left-hander retired throughout his main-draw debut two years in the past and lamented being generally known as “the man who’s injured so much”, earlier than struggling along with his serve in a depressing defeat towards 176th-ranked Jesper de Jong final yr.
This yr, he has returned as totally different proposition – and with some extent to show.
Over the previous 12 months, Draper has loved a steep rise and achieved a sequence of notable profession landmarks.
He has moved into the world’s high 5 after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final eventually yr’s US Open, profitable ATP titles on grass and exhausting courts, in addition to reaching his first clay-court ultimate in Madrid final month.
Observers with a deep understanding of the sport have lengthy insisted Draper has the power to carry out nicely on the purple dust, with British former world quantity 4 Tim Henman telling BBC Sport just lately his finest attributes – his left-handed serve and crunching forehand – may “work on any floor”.
As soon as he obtained going towards Bellucci, Draper proved that once more.
Slicing out double faults helped his first serve turned more and more dominant – climbing from 58% of factors received with the opening shot within the first set to 92% within the second – whereas the amount of forehand winners additionally elevated.
The venom of this shot was too sizzling for Bellucci to deal with – and wowed the Paris crowd, who frequently gasped at Draper’s energy and accuracy.
One other forehand zinger on his first match level clinched victory and a second-round assembly with both France’s Gael Monfils or Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien on Thursday.
