Jack Draper vs Marcos Giron LIVE
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.
Jack Draper vs Marcos Giron latest updates
Live updates
Which other Brits are in action today?
Francesca Jones, who was born with three fingers on each hand and seven toes, follows Draper on Centre Court, as she faces third seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Choinski, who beat Draper’s opponent Giron in qualifying, will face Alexei Popyrin on Court 1.
On Court 1...
In this episode of Britwatch, we turn our attentions to 17-year-old Hannah Klugman, who is involved in a second-set battle with the Czech Tereza Valentova. She dropped the first set 7-5, but it is even at 4-4 in the second as the teenager tries to force a decider.
On Centre Court...
Jack Pinnington Jones, the British wildcard, is up first on Centre, and locked in a tussle with Marco Trungelliti.
He dropped the first set 7-5, but is on course to level proceedings, up 5-2 in the second.
Who is Draper's opponent?
Draper faces American lucky loser Marcos Giron this afternoon, after the world No86 was placed into the main draw on Monday morning following fifth seed Brandon Nakashima’s late withdrawal.
Nakashima, the world No31, pulled out with a back injury, and Giron, who was beaten by Jan Choinski, Draper’s compatriot, 7-5 6-7(2) 7-6(5) in the final round of qualifying, will face the British No3 on Centre Court instead.
Draper reveals key lesson from 'very special' Murray relationship
Jack Draper has revealed the key things that Sir Andy Murray has brought to his game since the former Wimbledon champion took over as his coach.
British tennis past and present have joined forces ahead of Draper’s comeback tournament at Eastbourne this week, with Murray casting a watchful eye over the now world No160, who is making his first appearance on the tour since pulling out of the Barcelona Open back in April.
Why is Murray coaching Draper?
Honestly? We’re not too sure.
The three-time Grand Slam champion made a high-profile first step into his non-playing career by coaching Novak Djokovic, but that partnership ended back in May after a poor run of results for the Serb.
Murray insisted that he would not rush back into coaching, but has now joined forces with British men’s tennis’ leading light, as he eyes a statement return at his home Slam.
'Watching your decline': Draper opens up on injury hell
Jack Draper has admitted that he struggled “watching your decline” as he opened up on his year of injury hell.
The Briton, who has fallen to world No160 in the ATP rankings at the time of publication, is preparing to make yet another comeback to the tour after over 12 months of continued setbacks.
He first struggled with an arm injury picked up at the Madrid Masters last year but played through the pain barrier at Wimbledon and the US Open before curtailing his season prematurely ahead of his second-round encounter with Zizou Bergs at Flushing Meadows.
That, as well as a long-running case of tendonitis in his knee, has seen him try to return to the top table several times before suffering more disappointments.
Draper recent results
Draper made his first comeback of 2025 at the Dubai Open, beating Quentin Halys in the first round before being knocked out by Arthur Rinderknech in the second in straight sets.
He had a resurgence as he defended his Indian Wells title, stunning Novak Djokovic in the last 16 before falling to Daniil Medvedev in the last eight.
At Miami a week later, he was shocked by home favourite Reilly Opelka, who eliminated him in two sets, before his most recent match at the Barcelona Open, where he was forced to hand Tomas Etcheverry a first-round walkover as he struggled once more with injury.
How to watch
Live stream: You can watch the Eastbourne Open for free on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, with a valid TV licence.
Hello and welcome!
... to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Jack Draper’s comeback match against Marcos Giron at the Eastbourne Open.
The now-British No3 has endured a torrid year of injuries, but now, with just a week before Wimbledon, he attempts to come back once more.
Stay tuned for all the updates, with the match set to start at around 12.30pm BST.