Jack Draper was knocked out of the men’s singles at the Canadian Open in straight sets on Wednesday but came back to win his doubles match later that day.
British No 1 Draper was playing his first hard-court singles match since the Miami Masters in March on the back of last week’s second-round exit to Taylor Fritz on clay at the Paris Olympics.
The 22-year-old was beaten 7-5 6-2 in little over an hour and a half as Australian Jordan Thompson deservedly set up a last-32 showdown against second seed Alexander Zverev.
But, Draper returned to court just two hours later to reach the men’s doubles quarter-finals with Italian Jannik Sinner.
Draper paid a heavy price for a string of unforced errors in his singles defeat, missing a chance to build momentum ahead of the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, scheduled to begin at Flushing Meadows on August 26 – live on Sky Sports.
World No 30 Thompson seized the initiative with a break in game seven and eventually capitalised on his third set point after the Briton briefly brought the match back on serve.
Draper dug in to save two break points in his opening service game of the second set and produced some eye-catching winners during the contest.
But costly double faults in games three and seven helped gift his 30-year-old opponent a route into round two.
However, Draper and Sinner beat Alexander Bublik and Ben Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 to reach the last eight of the men’s doubles, so it’s not all over for the Briton this week in Montreal.
Elsewhere at the Canadian Open, Britain’s Harriet Dart lost 3-6 6-3 6-7 (2-7) in a thrilling match to Diana Shnaider in Toronto.
Naomi Osaka beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-3 6-1 as she prepares to return to the US Open for the first time since 2022.
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Diana Shnaider beat Harriet Dart in a thrilling three sets to progress to the second round of the Canadian Open in Toronto
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
In the run-up to the final Grand Slam of 2024 – the US Open – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the hard-court season.
- National Bank Open, Montreal (ATP 1000) – 6-12 August
- National Bank Open, Toronto (WTA 1000) – 6-12 August
- Cincinnati Open (ATP 1000) – 12-19 August
- Cincinnati Open (WTA 1000) – 13-19 August
- Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) – 18-24 August
- Tennis in the Land, Cleveland (WTA 250) – 18-24 August
- Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey (WTA 500) – 19-24 August
- US Open (ATP/WTA) – 26 August – 8 September
Watch the Canadian Open live on Sky Sports this week with some matches available on Sky Sports Plus. Stream Sky Sports Tennis and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership. No contract, cancel anytime.