Man Utd fan Jack Draper channelleged his inner Ange Postecoglou in Melbourne (Image: Getty/X)
told Aussie fans: “The more you shout, the better I will play” after beating Thanassi Kokkinakis, and outrageous sledging, to set up another Ashes battle.
And Jacob Fearnley reached a Grand Slam third round for the first time in another “crazy atmosphere” on drunken Court 6 – and will now face world No.2 .
The British No.1 won the longest match of the tournament so far against home favourite Kokkinakis despite getting booed into the John Cain Arena – and getting “abuse” throughout the five-set epic which finished at 11.55pm local time.
Croatian umpire Marijana Veljovic was like a schoolteacher with a rowdy class as she repeatedly asked for silence. But after Draper broke the world No.71 to love when he served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth, he cupped his ear to the crowd to crank up the volume even more under the roof.
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“It was a tough atmosphere to deal with but I had a little bit of fun back too,” he said. “It was an electric atmosphere. Obviously getting quite a lot of abuse from the crowd in between serves the back of the court and all that sort of stuff.
“ They were saying some interesting things for sure. I don’t want to say. With the whistling and the talking, when you are about to serve, it’s really difficult.
“Sometimes you don’t want to sort of rile them or give it back. But it gave me energy doing that. It’s nice to sort of just give it like a bit of an ear or something like that,.I have a thick skin. It’s fun.
“I was watching the FA Cup. Everyone was getting on Ange’s (Postecoglou) back the other night, and he just stood there taking it. It’s good sport. It’s entertainment.”
With Kokkinakis struggling with a shoulder injury, Draper won 6-7 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-3 – his second five-set win in three days after a hip injury disrupted his pre-season. It took four hours and 35 minutes. “My body felt amazing,” he reported.
Jack Draper had to deal with some heckles from the crowd (Image: Getty)
The US Open semi-finalist will next play Aussie Aleksandar Vukic – who beat No.22 seed Seb Korda in five sets – in another likely night match. “I want the Aussie fans to know that the more they shout, the better I will play,” said Draper.
Fearnley, who only left his US college last summer, silenced Nick Kyrgios in the same John Cain Arena in the first round.
This time he beat France’s Arthur Cazaux 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-3 on the party court which has a two-story bar and lots of noise. It was so loud that the match on neighbouring Court 8 had to be moved.
“It was a crazy atmosphere,” said the Scot. “I actually didn’t really look at the court before I went on, so when I saw the bar, I was thinking it’s going to be a pretty rowdy atmosphere.
“Obviously there were some supporters who were extremely drunk, but it was a great atmosphere. One fan in a Scotland shirt actually got escorted out at the end. I wanted to see him because he was a really good support!
“The Kyrgios match was louder, but I was a bit more distant, so it didn’t kind of feel as in my face. Whereas, this one, it feels like you’re face-to-face, and it was pretty loud.”