Jack Draper made an encouraging start to his latest injury comeback by beating lucky loser Marcos Giron in straight sets in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
With new coach Andy Murray watching from a courtside box on a sweltering day at Devonshire Park, former world number four Draper progressed 6-4 7-6 (5) in an hour and 25 minutes.
He showed no obvious fitness concerns during a solid display to set up all-British encounter against Jack Pinnington Jones in the last 16 of the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Draper has enlisted the support of three-time grand slam champion Murray for the grass court swing after being plagued by chronic arm and knee injuries during the past year, in addition to a recent shoulder problem.
The 24-year-old, who has plummeted to 160 in the rankings, declared himself to be in a “very good place” ahead of his first competitive outing since retiring injured in the last 32 of the Barcelona Open on April 13.
Appearing to be in peak physical condition, he backed up his claim, serving well and wrapping up the opening set in 35 minutes after capitalising on only the second break point of the contest following a poor double fault from his opponent.
World number 86 Giron was beaten in qualifying on Sunday by Britain’s Jan Choinski but received a second chance due to his fellow American Brandon Nakashima withdrawing injured on Monday morning.
The 32-year-old was broken again in game six of the second set after being on the wrong side of a net-cord winner before hitting back in game nine when Draper was broken to love during a temporary wobble in which he slipped and fell on the baseline.
Former US Open semi-finalist Draper was unable to prevent a second-set tiebreak before recovering from a mini-break at 3-1 down to ensure he will have more competitive action ahead of Wimbledon.
In the opening match on Centre Court, British number six Pinnington Jones came from a set down to defeat Argentinian Marco Trungelliti.
Trungelliti, who was was a late replacement for injured compatriot Ugo Carabelli, was beaten 5-7 6-3 7-5 by the 23-year-old wildcard.
