The British fifth seed, who had been scheduled to face Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the second round, now faces another period on the sidelines after missing the recent Masters 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati as he attempted to recover from a bruised bone in his upper left arm.

The injury, which Draper attempted to play down earlier this week, leaves him unable to defend the bulk of the 800 points he earned after reaching the semi-finals last year. He is projected to drop at least two places in the rankings to seventh as a result.

“Hi guys, I’m sorry to say I’ll be withdrawing from the US Open,” Draper announced on social media. “I tried my very best to be here and give myself every chance to play, but the discomfort in my arm has become too much and I have to do what is right and look after myself. Thank you for all the support.”

The irony is that Draper had appeared to be in particularly fine fettle after emerging from a seven-week hiatus last week to compete in the re-imagined mixed doubles event alongside Jessica Pegula. Always an imposing presence at 6ft 4in, he looked noticeably more muscular, a change he attributed to tennis-specific fitness work during his injury absence rather than a dedicated effort to bulk up with bench presses and the like.

Before his return at Flushing Meadows, where his mixed doubles run with Pegula culminated with a semi-final defeat to Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek, Draper was last seen in competitive action at Wimbledon, where he was seeded fourth but was beaten in round two by former finalist Marin CIlic. By then, he had already been suffering with pain in his humerus, the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow, for several weeks.

“It was something I was playing through for a while,” Draper said after his win over Gomez on Monday. “I first started feeling it probably towards the middle of the clay season. I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve. It kind of got progressively worse. Then, on the grass, it got quite painful. So I didn’t know what I was dealing with. 

“After the grass, I got it checked out. I had some bone stress, bone bruising, in my humerus on my left side. It is one of those where, if you keep playing with it, it could become very, very serious. So I had to take some time out. Saying that, it was not so bad, because I could obviously do a lot of other things as well physically. It wasn’t like I had to stop completely.” 

That situation has now changed, with a longer layoff seemingly required to solve the issue. Draper, who practised at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday and Wednesday before confirming his withdrawal, had been seeded to meet Jannik Sinner, the Italian world No 1, in the quarter-finals.

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In a match-up that drew a ripple of mischievous amusement as it was announced at the conclusion of Friday morning’s draw, Alcaraz will begin his quest for a third successive crown against Fabio Fognini, the gifted but unpredictable Italian whose languid shot-making belies a notoriously fiery disposition.

Fognini has hinted that this is likely to be his final year on the tour and, while it would be stretching it to suggest an upset could be on the cards, the 38-year-old will undoubtedly relish the prospect of facing a big name on Centre Court in what may be his last match at Wimbledon. The pair have met twice previously, both times on red clay in Rio de Janeiro, with Alcaraz winning on each occasion. 

The Spanish second seed is projected to face Holger Rune of Denmark in the quarter-finals, with either Alexander Zverev, the German world No 3, or Taylor Fritz, the fifth seed, barring his path to another final. 

Krejcikova, meanwhile, was drawn against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, the 20-year-old left-hander whose breakout run to the semi-finals of the Miami Open earlier this year included victories over Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. The 74th-ranked Eala, who has made encouraging progress on grass ahead of her main draw debut at Wimbledon, will cross swords with Australian teenager Maya Joint for the Eastbourne Open title on Saturday.

It represents a tough start for Krejcikova, who has barely played since the turn of the year due to a back injury and withdrew from her scheduled Eastbourne quarter-final against Varvara Gracheva this week with a thigh problem, raising further doubts about her fitness. The 29-year-old Czech, currently ranked 17th, defeated Jasmine Paolini in last year’s Wimbledon final to claim her second grand slam title following her French Open victory of four years ago. 

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, will open her challenge against Carson Branstine, a 24-year-old Canadian qualifier. The 27-year-old Belarusian could meet former champion Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated her in straights sets in the semi-finals of the Berlin Open last weekend, in round three. Sabalenka is projected to face Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, in the last eight, with either Paolini or Qinwen Zheng, the Olympic champion and fifth seed, potentially awaiting in the semi-finals.

In the lower half of the draw, second seed Coco Gauff will begin her campaign against the 42nd-ranked Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine and could play former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka in round two. 

Gauff, 21, is expected to face Swiatek in the last eight – although the Pole, who opens against Polina Kudermetova, may first have to get past either Danielle Collins or Marta Kostyuk in the third round, followed by Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion. The American, who won her second major title at the French Open earlier this month, is seeded to meet fellow countrywoman Jessica Pegula, who starts against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, in the last four.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, top seed Jannik Sinner opens against Luca Nardi and is expected to meet another Italian opponent, Lorenzo Musetti, in the last eight. Sinner could then be in line for a reunion with Novak Djokovic, who defeated him in the semi-finals two years ago. First, though, Djokovic may need to see off Britain’s Jack Draper, the fourth seed, who gave the seven-time champion an opening-round scare on his main draw debut in 2021. 

With his thunderous southpaw serve and heavy forehand, Draper would seem to have a game ideally suited to grass. But the 23-year-old, who will be carrying the hopes of the home nation despite never previously going beyond round two in three visits to SW19, has been handed an onerous draw. Following an opening-round assignment against Sebastián Báez, the world No 38, Draper could meet former finalist Marin Cilic, followed by Alexander Bublik – who defeated him at the French Open earlier this month and won the Halle Open on grass last weekend – and the rising Czech teenager Jakub Mensik.

Emma Raducanu, who aggravated a lingering back injury during her recent quarter-final run at Queen’s Club, has been handed a similarly difficult path. The former US Open champion, who reached the fourth for the second time last year, begins against 17-year-old wildcard Mimi Xu, a former British national junior champion. Assuming she survives unscathed, Raducanu will face either the resurgent Vondrousova, who won the Berlin Open title last week, or the American 32nd seed McCartney Kessler – followed, in all likelihood, by Sabalenka.

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The Norwegian world No 15 survived a tense, attritional battle against Britain’s Jack Draper to win the Madrid Open, his first Masters 1000 crown, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 29 minutes.

It marks a significant breakthrough for the 26-year-old, who has twice previously come up short in finals at this level, first at the 2022 Miami Open against Carlos Alcaraz and then in Monte Carlo last spring, where he was undone by Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Ruud failed to win a set on either of those occasions, but his resilient win over Draper means he has now racked up a dozen title wins on the red dirt since 2020 – three more than Alcaraz, the reigning French Open champion, who stands second in the list with nine. 

Better yet, for a player who has also lost two finals at Roland Garros and one each at the US Open and ATP Finals, Ruud finally has his hands on one of the game’s bigger prizes.     

“I know, based on the last years that I’ve had on tour, how tough it is to do well at the biggest tournaments, and I’ve never been able to get over the finish line as a champion,” he said. “But today I was able to, and this week here in Madrid, so extremely happy and proud, of course, that I was able to stay focused in the tournament.”

Draper did not make that task easy, and in the early stages it seemed more likely that the high-flying 23-year-old would claim his second Masters 1000 title of the season, becoming the first Briton to win at this level on hard courts and clay since Andy Murray, than that Ruud would finally break his big-match hoodoo.

Revelling in the quicker conditions in Madrid, where the altitude of about 650 metres above sea level ensures the ball is swifter through the air than at other clay-court events, Draper used his heavy southpaw serve and heavy forehand to good effect to establish a 5-3 lead. 

It is an approach that has served the 23-year-old well over a fortnight in which he has seen off Tallon Griekspoor, Matteo Berretini, Tommy Paul, Arnaldi and Lorenzo Musetti, all players with an ostensibly superior clay-court pedigree. 

But as Ruud elevated his level, particularly on the return of serve, Draper’s form dipped, prompting the loss of four straight games and a furious outburst at the changeover. Draper can nonetheless take much from his sojourn in the Spanish capital, where he has demonstrated that he can prosper on his least favoured surface. He will arrive in Rome next as the new world No 5, one place clear of Novak Djokovic.

“I knew I was good on the clay,” said Draper, who claimed the Indian Wells title seven weeks ago. “I had a couple of really tight losses last year, and I just needed to get my foot in the door somewhere to show that I’m able to compete to a really high level on this surface.

“I think this week has shown that, to myself and others. The biggest positive I’m taking away is the fact that I’m still learning how to move and play on this surface, and I’m right there. I’m competing with the best clay courters, the best guys on this surface in the world.”

Ruud certainly belongs in that category. The Norwegian rebounded impressively from a courageous second-set fightback from Draper and grew in stature down the stretch, threatening an early break and averting danger on his own delivery before seizing the initiative in the fifth game. Striking his sledgehammer forehand with unshakable conviction, he would not be caught, holding to love to claim a cathartic victory.

“This was my seventh big final, if you count them all,” said Ruud. “So seven is a lucky number, I guess. It was worth the wait in the end. I’ve never really been too close in any of the finals when I look back. I’ve lost the majority of them in straight sets. 

“But when I lost the second set today, I was a bit frustrated. Jack really stepped up in the end of serve in that second set. I felt like I was in a good position, it was 7-5, 3-2, and then suddenly, boom, 3-6. But I told myself, ‘Try to stay positive.’ 

“If you had been offered at the beginning of the week that you would play the third set for the trophy, you would probably take it.

“I always dreamed about winning tournaments like this, or grand slams, or becoming world No 1, and I’ve been fairly close.

“I’ve tried to learn from that and think that one day there will come another opportunity, and maybe I can seize it. I guess that was the key to the victory today.”

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The 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory that carried Sinner, the world No 1, into a first US Open final was not a matter of strategy and deliberation, so much as the survival of the fittest. Draper, the British 25th seed, who had reached his maiden grand slam semi-final without dropping a set, showed an abundance of quality and guts – a little too literally in the latter case, given his repeated vomiting – but it was Sinner who coped better with the clammy, airless conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium, recovering from a jarring mid-match fall to prevail in three hours and three minutes.

The contest turned on a gruelling second set in which Draper, not for the first time, was forced to battle his body as well as his opponent. Drenched in sweat and gripped by anxiety, the 22-year-old vomited three times, and although he courageously clung on to his serve throughout, Sinner raised his level in the climactic tiebreak to establish an unassailable lead. 

It was a bitter blow for Draper, who has worked so hard to strengthen his body after the catalogue of injuries that marred his early career, but admits that the anxiety he feels in big moments often manifests itself physically. After an early exchange of breaks, the Briton matched Sinner virtually step for step until 5-5 in the opening set, where an angst-ridden struggle on serve culminated with a double fault. Sinner served out the set with aplomb, and Draper said afterwards that it was in the next game, punctuated by a string of punishing rallies as the Italian pushed for an early break, that his condition began to deteriorate in earnest. 

“At 5-5 [I the first set] we had a really tight game,” said Draper. “Sometimes in the matches you feel an anxious build-up in certain moments, and I definitely felt like that was a big game. I threw in a couple of double faults, I think it was deuce a few times, and then when I came out for the first game in the second set, he was obviously trying to get the break first game. I managed to hold him off, but was definitely starting to not feel great in that moment.

“Even though I generally feel pretty relaxed and stuff, I definitely felt a little bit more excited today, a few more nerves around. I’m definitely someone who’s quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes, I do feel a bit [of] nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.”

No player is immune to nerves, and Draper will undoubtedly learn from the experience. Sinner demonstrated his own strength in dealing with adversity by recovering from a huge scare in the ninth game, when he tumbled backwards after scrambling to retrieve a ball deep behind the baseline, jarring his left wrist. While it did not prevent him from winning the point with a thumping forehand pass, medical staff were on overtime at the ensuing changeover, a doctor administering medication to Draper as a physio worked on Sinner’s wrist. 

“The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt OK,” said Sinner, who grimaced as he received treatment. “Then after it went away by playing, which is good. Let’s see how it is tomorrow, when it’s cold, [if] it’s going to be a different feeling. Hopefully it’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m quite relaxed because, if it’s something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more. Let’s see how it is.”

A fortnight that began with Sinner addressing the revelation that an independent tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for a banned substance earlier this year, will now conclude with him seeking to win his second major of the season, following his maiden title at the Australian Open in January. In Sunday’s final, the 23-year-old will face Taylor Fritz, the American 12th seed, who later defeatedhis compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the first homegrown US Open finalist since Andy Roddick in 2006. Fritz, who has never previously advanced beyond the last eight of a major, said it was a challenge he would relish.

“I’ve always played well against Jannik, I think we’re one and one [in previous meetings],” said the 26-year-old Californian, who defeated Sinner in Indian Wells three years ago before the Italian returned the favour at the same venue last spring. 

“It’s been a while since we played, but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells. He hits the ball big, he’s a very strong ball-striker, but I feel Iike I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball. I think I typically play well against him.”

Fritz was not always at his best against Tiafoe, chiefly because his fellow American would not allow it. Having won the first three games – perhaps not altogether unexpectedly, given that his only loss in seven previous meetings with the 2022 semi-finalist came eight years ago – Fritz abruptly found himself confronted by a very different player. As Tiafoe seized the initiative by reeling off six of the next seven games, electrifying the crowd with his ebullient shot-making, the match began to assume a fresh complexion. Fritz hit back to level, breaking late in a service-dominated second set, but when Tiafoe broke early in the third to move ahead by two sets to one, the match appeared to be on his racket. 

Serving at 4-5 in the fourth set, Tiafoe appeared to be closing in on a famous victory. Instead, he frittered away two game points with a pair of double faults, butchered a forehand, and tamely netted a drop shot to hand Fritz the set. With the contest even and cramp setting in, Tiafoe was a double break down in the decider before he knew what had hit him. The match was over in all but name.

“I was the better player for sure tonight,” said a disconsolate Tiafoe. “In the fourth set, I just had some in-and-out cramps. I felt like my body just kind of shut down on me.” 

Draper would no doubt sympathise. 

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In the latest coming-of-age performance of a fortnight that has been full of them, Jack Draper maintained his seamless progress at the US Open to become the first British man to reach the semi-finals since Murray won the title in 2012. Yet to drop a set in New York, the 22-year-old marked his maiden appearance in Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over Alex de Minaur, the Australian 10th seed, who was clearly hampered by a hip problem but never stopped fighting.

Draper likewise knows what it is to labour with injury, and as he sat at courtside afterwards removing the various straps and supports holding his battle-scarred body together, it was hard not to recall the various physical issues that have stalled his career, most notably when a shoulder injury forced him to miss Wimbledon last year. There was a brief scare here, too, when he called for the trainer early in the second set to get his right thigh strapped. But Draper has become accustomed to dealing with adversity, and his first act on returning to the fray was to batter down one of the 11 aces he produced on the day. 

“I’ve been working so hard for such a long time now,” said Draper. “Last year was a real turning point for me, when I had my injury setbacks and took a lot of time off over the summer because of my shoulder injury. 

“I had to watch all these young, amazing players winning amazing tournaments and playing on the biggest stages in the world, and I felt like I just wasn’t doing enough to get to that point myself. 

“So this is not an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’m putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come. I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here I can do a lot of amazing things.”

Draper’s progress to this point has certainly been remarkable. When the fortnight began with the British southpaw still smarting from the controversial conclusion to his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati, where a double bounce went unnoticed by the chair umpire, few would have anticipated Draper emerging from a quarter headed by Carlos Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion. But the Spaniard’s shock second-round defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp, combined with Hubert Hurkacz’s exit at the same stage, created an opportunity that Draper has gleefully embraced, dispatching Van de Zandschulp and Tomas Machac with minimal fuss before claiming the fourth top-10 win of his career against De Minaur. 

Naysayers will point out that none of those opponents came close to doing themselves justice, and that is true. Van de Zandschulp suffered a mental and emotional letdown following his win over Alcaraz, Machac’s game crumbled as rapidly as his composure, and De Minaur’s fleet-footed movement, perhaps his most dangerous weapon, was clearly compromised as he continues to manage the fallout from the torn hip cartilage that forced him to pull out of Wimbledon. Draper is sure to face a sterner test against Jannik Sinner, with whom he shares a close friendship, after the Italian world No 1 later saw off Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to book his place in the last four. 

Yet you can do no more than beat the player on the opposite side of the net, and Draper has met every challenge he has faced with composure and maturity. That was particularly true of his tussle with De Minaur, where he avoided the pitfall of abandoning his gameplan in favour of trying to capitalise on his stricken opponent’s injury. There was a brief moment of crisis for Draper when, having held break points that would have given him a 5-2 lead in the second set, he instead found himself serving to stay in it at 4-5. To his credit, though, he immediately steadied himself to see out the set and, in short space, the most important win of his career.

“It is a challenge playing someone who maybe isn’t 100%,” said Draper. “Towards the end of the first set, I didn’t know that he was struggling with injury, but I definitely noticed he was a bit subdued. That made me realise he maybe had something slightly wrong, but then again maybe I was hurting a little bit as well. So it was a bit of a strange situation.

“I definitely felt in the second set I had a few opportunities, and it was there for me to take the set pretty early on, but I didn’t. I think part of that was to do with maybe focusing on myself too much, and not realising what was going on the other side of the court. 

“It’s tough, you know, I was playing someone who moves still pretty well and was making balls. It was kind of difficult to play the way I wanted to play, I started becoming more passive and was playing for him to miss instead of the playing the tennis that I’m supposed to be playing, which is to be aggressive, to be on the front foot.”

Whatever happens over the next few days, Draper is certainly on the front foot now. Comparisons with Emma Raducanu, whose surprise run from qualifying into the main draw culminated with a shock title win three years ago, are inescapable. As Raducanu would be the first to admit, however, the sport moves on; her title run is old news. British tennis has a new leading light – and, like Murray before him, Draper is forging his own path.

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Overcome by tension during a semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic 12 months ago, when he was derailed by cramp, Alcaraz arrived in Paris this term as the bookmakers’ favourite, but with lingering concerns over the forearm injury that has dogged him for the past two months. On the eve of the tournament, he said he was no longer in pain, but remained “a little bit scared about hitting every forehand 100%”.

As Alcaraz opened his title challenge with an emphatic victory over JJ Wolf on Court Philippe Chatrier, however, he showed few signs of fear. As for pain, the only evidence of that was on Wolf’s side of the net, where the 25-year-old American, a lucky loser ranked 107 in the world, gave a creditable account of himself only to emerge on the wrong end of a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 hiding. Goodness knows what Alcaraz will do to his opponents once he really gets into his stride.

“I’m still feeling weird, let’s say, or afraid to hit every forehand at 100%,” said the Spaniard, who once again sported a compression sleeve on his lower right arm. 

“It’s still in my mind, but I didn’t feel anything after the match, which is really good for me, so I can say it’s a full recovery.”

The 21-year-old’s only previous outings on European clay this spring came at the Madrid Open, where his title defence came to grief at the hands of Andrey Rublev. Alcaraz admitted in the aftermath of that quarter-final defeat that he had been thinking about his injury after every forehand, but there were few signs of him holding back against Wolf. The American’s afternoon began auspiciously when he spanked a pair of brutal returns to break in the opening game, but went rapidly downhill thereafter.

While Alcaraz’s forehand is the bedrock of his game, his variety is such that there will always be a fallback. Here, his weapon of choice was the backhand, which he repeatedly hammered low and true down the line, boldly stepping into the court to conjure changes of direction and velocity that invariably left Wolf standing. Yet there were plenty of other signature moves to enjoy, from delicate drop shots to 133mph first serves – and 21 winners off the forehand side. 

“Everybody told me that I must go to 100% on every forehand, but I don’t feel as comfortable as before, just to play every forehand and forget my forearm,” said Alcaraz. “I’m trying to hit as many forehands as I can 100%, but there are a few of them that I want to stay easy, let’s say.”

That caution is at odds with the Spaniard’s somewhat laissez-faire approach to the details of his injury. He has cheerfully admitted that he did not pay too much heed to the outcome of medical tests, preferring instead to focus on what to do, rather than what was wrong, once he had been assured the problem was not serious. He has applied the same blithely unscientific approach to wearing a protective sleeve on his arm.

“My physio told me that it helps in a certain way,” said Alcaraz. “I don’t know which way, but he told me it helps. 

“He told me that it is not necessary to wear the sleeve, but I wear it just in case, because everybody’s told me that it helps my mind in a certain way, just to try to forget everything in my forearm. That’s why I’m wearing this.”

Alcaraz will next face Jesper de Jong, a Dutch qualifier ranked 176 in the world, who defeated Britain’s Jack Draper 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 6-3. Draper, ranked 35th, showed impressive resilience to claw his way back from two sets to love down, but struggled on serve and lacked conviction down the stretch.  

British hopes were dealt a further blow in the night session, where Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, cruised past Andy Murray in straight sets. The 39-year-old Swiss prevailed 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, sharing a few words with his opponent at the net afterwards before applauding Murray, who may have played his last singles match at the French Open, as he waved a lingering farewell to Court Philippe Chatrier.

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Over the course of a year that has brought an extraordinary recovery from two sets to love down against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open, and a barely less epic performance against Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon, Murray has shown that, whatever he may have lost to age and a metal hip, his resilience and resourcefulness on the big stage remain undiminished. For once, though, the 36-year-old was unable to pull a rabbit out of the hat, unable to summon an improbable fightback against the odds.

For that, Dimitrov deserves much credit. The Bulgarian, a semi-finalist in New York four years ago, came into the match with a clear game plan and executed it to perfection, using his sliced backhand to deny Murray pace and drawing 45 unforced errors from the 2012 champion in the process. In Dani Vallverdu and Jamie Delgado, Dimitrov has two of Murray’s former coaches on his team; plainly the 32-year-old made full use of their inside knowledge.

“Yeah, of course,” Dimitrov replied when asked in his on-court if his coaches had offered insights into Murray’s game. “But at the same time, they were coaching against me as well [when they were with Murray], so there’s no secrets between the two teams. 

“You have a team around you to help you with everything that you’re going through, whether it’s on or off the court. Unity makes power.”

Murray could certainly have done with such help. “I need something!” he screamed towards his team midway through the set, imploring them to lift him after dropping serve to love with two double faults and a pair of missed forehands. Yet the Scot was often his own worse enemy, conceding his serve at the start of each set and failing to capitalise on the chances that came along on Dimitrov’s delivery. The most notable such opportunity came at the end of a 33-shot rally wide in the eighth game of the second set, when he missed a backhand pass to squander a break point that would have put him back on serve.

A flat performance was followed by a similarly downbeat press conference.

“It’s obviously disappointing to not play how you would like,” said Murray. “Maybe I need to accept that [at] these events, the deep runs and everything that I felt like I’m capable of, they might not be there.  

“I’m aware what I’m doing, it’s unbelievably challenging to play at the highest level as I am now. Some days it’s harder than others. Today is obviously a really disappointing defeat, and probably the manner of it as well. I fought hard enough, but just didn’t play well enough.”

Perhaps surprisingly, after labouring for almost five hours to get past Slovakia’s Alex Molcan in the previous round, Dimitrov looked the fresher of the two. Murray, who won his opener in straight sets against Corentin Moutet of France – albeit in just under three hours – was up against it from the outset and needed all his signature stubbornness merely to avoid falling behind by a double break. Yet, having survived a 15-minute service game, he broke back to level at 2-2 and began to mount some serious resistance. It would not last.

It has been seven years since Murray and Dimitrov last crossed swords, and as the pair took 47 minutes to play the first seven games, it briefly felt as though it might take that long again merely to settle the opening set. Instead, Dimitrov seized control, a fact Murray attributed to a poor serving performance and the fact that he converted only two of his nine break points. Equally perplexing, though, was his failure to come to terms with the tactical challenge.

“It was death by a thousand slices for Andy, because he likes to counter-attack, and he had nothing to work with,” said Martina Navratilova, analysing the effect of Dimitrov’s decision to slice 84% of his backhands in her punditry role for Sky Sports. “He was forced to create the pace.”

Two games from the end, when Murray gestured towards his team to signal that his challenge was over, one half wondered whether his career might also be done. Yet, with his ranking at 37, the highest mark he has achieved since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery four and a half years ago, the Scot is not ready to quit just yet. Murray continues to take pleasure in his craft, although he admitted that could change were his progress to stall.

“I still enjoy everything that goes into playing at a high level,” said Murray. “I enjoy the work. The training and trying to improve and trying to get better, I do still enjoy that, and that’s what keeps me going. 

“If things change and I stop enjoying that, or my results, my ranking and everything, start to go backwards – if, in a few months’ time, I was ranked 60 in the world or whatever instead of moving up – things might change.”

One thing that is most certainly changing, as Murray acknowledged, is the pecking order at the top of the British game. That point was underlined by an impressive 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 win for Britain’s Jack Draper over Hubert Hurkacz, the Polish 17th seed. Draper’s recent return from a three-month injury layoff was thrown into fresh doubt last week when he pulled out of a tournament in Winston-Salem, but on this occasion it was his opponent who struggled. Hurkacz complained of feeling unwell and called for medical attention in the third set, but that is to take nothing away from the strength of Draper’s performance. In Murray’s eyes, the 21-year-old has a stronger claim for inclusion in the British Davis Cup team due to compete in Manchester in less than a fortnight’s time.

“The plan was to play Davis Cup but, if I’m being honest, the other guys deserve to play ahead of me,” said Murray. “I know it’s probably a difficult situation, obviously, for Leon [Smith, the British Davis Cup captain] with Jack. He’s had quite a few injuries coming in, but if he’s fit and healthy, he’s obviously playing very well. 

“Cam [Norrie] and [Dan Evans], you know, Evo has had a great run in Washington. So we’ll see about Davis Cup and what happens there. I think there is probably a chance that I’m not on the team.”

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It has been a torrid period for Nadal, who has also had to contend with a cracked rib and two abdominal tears over the past year. And when the harshest of draws pitted him against Britain’s Jack Draper, many feared the defending champion was in danger of losing in the opening round of a major for only the third time in his career. So he might have done, had a debilitating attack of cramp not prevented Draper from sustaining the outstanding level he showed for the better part of a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat that spanned three hours and 41 minutes.

As last year’s dramatic title win at Melbourne Park showed, Nadal has acquired a knack for confounding expectations in the autumn of his career. He was far from his best against Draper. Frequently struggling to find length and potency on his forehand, the 22-time grand slam champion finished the afternoon with 46 unforced errors, many of them utterly inexplicable. There were shanks, grimaces and forlorn looks to his box in abundance. But he never went away and, when Draper began to struggle physically late in the third set, Nadal was ready to grasp his opportunity.

Draper conjured one final act of defiance to break at the start of the fourth set, producing some wonderfully enterprising play in the face of further inconsistency from Nadal. But some sharp volleying from the Spaniard set up an immediate opportunity to level and, as a Draper forehand drifted wide, his hopes of pulling off a major upset effectively went with it. As he served at deuce in the fourth game, a gruelling 22-shot rally ended with the 21-year-old pulling up sharply, no longer able to stretch for the ball or drive up through his legs. Draper was never again in contention.

“I needed a victory, so that’s the main thing,” said Nadal, who will face Mackenzie McDonald, a five-set winner over fellow American Brandon Nakashima, in round two. “Doesn’t matter the way. The most important thing today is a victory against a tough opponent. 

“It was not perfect. But to win against Jack, I need to do things well, no? I think I did things well. So [I’m] satisfied.  

“[It was] a tough battle, but I accepted well the mistakes. I was humble enough to accept that [there were] going to be ups and downs during the match.”

Draper was not helped by a double bout of viral illness over the off-season, which curtailed plans for an extended training block. Yet he fought until the last, refusing to concede in spite of his obvious discomfort, and can take comfort in the knowledge that – in the longest match of his fledgling career – he not only matched but also frequently eclipsed one of the sport’s all-time greats until his physical problems took hold. 

“Going to this trip in Australia, I was very undercooked,” said Draper, the world No 38, who was contesting only the third major of his career. “After last year, I was really excited about doing a good pre-season. It’s a good chance to get five weeks of really good training, especially with my new fitness trainer [former Olympic sprinter Dejan Vojnovic], who is amazing. 

“I had two viral infections, so had to be on antibiotics on two occasions. Lost five of those seven weeks. Got to be proud of the way I competed in Adelaide [where he was a semi-finalist] and the effort I put in there.”

The task now for Draper, as he acknowledged, is to bring his conditioning up to the same level as his tennis. His opening-round win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open offered similar evidence of his ability, yet there too his body failed him, a hamstring problem forcing him to retire against Karen Khachanov a couple of rounds later.

“I think I can take away the fact that my tennis is getting closer and closer,” said Draper. “Physically, I’ll be first to say I’m still a work in progress.”

There were no such problems for Draper’s Davis Cup team-mate Cameron Norrie, who bounced back from his emotional defeat to Richard Gasquet in the final of the Auckland Open on Saturday with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 6-3 win over Luca Van Assche of France. 

Daniil Medvedev, twice a finalist at Melbourne Park, likewise cruised through his opener, easing aside the 56th-ranked American Marcos Giron 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, while third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Quentin Halys of France 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

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Draper, ranked 40th and making his first appearance at Melbourne Park, is no stranger to facing a big name in the first round of a major. Two summers ago, the 21-year-old marked his Wimbledon debut by claiming the opening set against Novak Djokovic on Centre Court. Draper has come on in leaps and bounds since, upsetting Felix Auger-Aliassime at last year’s US Open and claiming a first top-10 win against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Montreal. 

Nadal, who has struggled for form since withdrawing from the Wimbledon semi-finals with an abdominal injury six months ago, will need to hit the ground running.  

“It will be amazing to play on a big court against him,” said Draper, who is through to the second ATP semi-final of his career after defeating third seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 in Adelaide. “He is a great champion, there are a lot of emotions, thinking about playing him, but I have to still got to do well in this week’s tournament. 

“Whatever happens it will be a special occasion for me, still very young in my career, so it’s great to have these sort of experiences and exposure to playing Rafa on a big court like that. I’ll just be trying to play well and do the best that I can.”

If he finds a way past Draper, Nadal could face Brandon Nakashima, the Next Gen ATP Finals champion, in the second round ahead of a potential last-16 meeting with Frances Tiafoe, who scored an emotionally charged victory over the Spaniard at the same stage of the US Open. 

Should the seedings hold, Nadal would then play Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals, where the Russian seventh seed would no doubt be eager to exact revenge for a shattering defeat from sets to love up in last year’s final. Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated the Spaniard in the quarter-finals two years ago, would be next up before a 60th career meeting with Djokovic. 

Nadal is not the only grand slam champion facing an onerous draw. 

Iga Swiatek, the women’s top seed, has been handed a tough opening assignment against Germany’s Jule Niemeier, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer and led the Polish world No 1 by a set and a break in the fourth round of last September’s US Open. In a bizarre twist of fate, Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin, both of whom know what it is to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, will vie for a place in the second round. And Bianca Andreescu, the former US Open champion, opens against Marie Bouzkova, the Czech 25th seed.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Andy Murray will play Matteo Berrettini, the big-serving Italian and former Wimbledon finalist, for the second major in succession. Berrettini, the 13th seed, prevailed in four sets when the pair met in the third round of the US Open. Dominic Thiem, meanwhile, the 2020 US Open champion and Australian Open finalist, has been pitted against Andrey Rublev, the Russian fifth seed.

There are fewer obvious pitfalls in the path of Djokovic, who opens his challenge for a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park against Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena. 

Djokovic, the fourth seed and title favourite, finds himself in the same quarter as Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios – where Holger Rune, the Danish teenager who consigned him to a shock defeat in the Paris Masters final, also lurks. Kyrgios and Rune could cross swords in the third round, although first the Australian must find a way past Russia’s Roman Safiullin, whom he will face in his opener. Kyrgios will not want for belief.

“I am one of the best players in the world,” declared Kyrgios. “So I’m definitely going to go into the Australian Open, any tournament, with confidence.”

Djokovic is seeded to play Rublev in the quarter-finals before renewing acquaintances with Norway’s Casper Ruud, the second seed, whom he defeated in Turin two months ago to win the ATP Finals.

Swiatek is expected to face Coco Gauff in the last eight, in what would be a repeat of last year’s French Open final, which was won convincingly by the Pole. Jessica Pegula, the American third seed, is likely to await in the semi-finals. Pegula, who has started the season in outstanding form, brushed aside a tearful Swiatek in the semi-finals of the United Cup last week.

In the bottom half of the draw, Ons Jabeur will continue her ongoing quest for a maiden grand slam title against former French Open semi-finalist Tamara Zidansek.

Jabeur, seeded second, is projected to meet Aryna Sabalenka, the champion in Adelaide last week, in the quarter-finals. Caroline Garcia, the fourth seed and WTA Finals champion, is expected to obstruct the Tunisian’s path to a third consecutive slam final.

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Novak Djokovic was unable to participate in two of the four grand slams. No ranking points were awarded at Wimbledon, from which Russian and Belarusian players were banned. Rafael Nadal climbed off the canvas in the most improbable manner. Roger Federer bade the sport a tearful farewell. Carlos Alcaraz won the US Open and became the youngest world No 1 in history. Daniil Medvedev, who inherited the top ranking from Djokovic in February, never really recovered from a soul-destroying defeat to Nadal in the Australian Open final.

Alcaraz was one of three men to occupy pole position in 2022, while three others fluffed the chance to claim it – a remarkable fact in itself, given that the last No 1 other than Djokovic, Nadal or Federer was Andy Murray in 2016. Among those who missed out were Nadal and clay-court specialist Casper Ruud, who reinvented himself as a hard-court specialist by reaching finals at the Miami Open, US Open and ATP Finals as well as (less surprisingly) Roland Garros. The third was Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals but won only five other matches at the majors. Go figure.

Nor were these the only tales of the unexpected. Nick Kyrgios made his first slam final at Wimbledon. Alexander Zverev looked capable of becoming only the third player to beat Nadal at the French Open, then suffered a gut-wrenching ankle injury that put him out for the remainder of the season. Matteo Berrettini underwent hand surgery, scuppering his clay-court campaign, and then fell victim to Covid before Wimbledon, wrecking his hopes of reaching a second consecutive final.

In their absence, others were not slow to fill the void. Taylor Fritz compiled the finest season of his career. Felix Auger-Aliassime finished the year at a career-high ranking of sixth, winning three titles in three weeks and making a pivotal contribution as Canada won the Davis Cup for the first time. And Holger Rune, Jack Draper and Lorenzo Musetti all made big breakthroughs.

So, after a season of ups and downs, who were the big winners in 2022?

Best player: Rafael Nadal

In a year when Rafael Nadal was beaten just once at the majors, it is a tribute to the excellence of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz that the identity of the season’s standout player is even up for debate. 

For Djokovic, it was a bittersweet campaign. On the one hand, a seventh Wimbledon crown and a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title offered further evidence of his enduring greatness. Yet it was also a season of controversy for the Serb, whose decision to remain unvaccinated against Covid meant he was deported from Australia and unable to enter the US, ruling him out of two grand slams and four Masters 1000 events.

Djokovic’s problems were compounded by the ATP’s decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points: undisputed world No 1 at the start of the year, the 35-year-old eventually finished in fifth spot after missing out on 2,000 points. Not even a typically strong indoor season could alleviate the sense that 2022 might have yielded more.

The same cannot be said for Alcaraz, whose meteoric rise culminated with an exhilarating and dramatic run to a first major. The 19-year-old’s tally of five titles included impressive victories in Miami and Madrid – where he beat Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in successive rounds – while his US Open triumph made him the youngest No 1 in history. The speed of his ascent, astonishing by any standard, is especially so when you consider it was only a year earlier that Alcaraz first announced himself to the world by reaching the last eight at Flushing Meadows.

Yet any appraisal of the spirited Spaniard’s year must take account of two caveats. First, he has yet to demonstrate consistency at the majors. Given his age, that is, of course, entirely understandable. Yet it also militates against naming him the season’s best player. Alcaraz’s deepest grand slam run beyond New York was a last-eight finish at the French Open, where Zverev avenged his crushing defeat in the Madrid final. For all his athletic brilliance and bewitching blend of power and finesse, the teenager is not yet ready to dominate in the manner of his predecessors. 

Second, as Alcaraz himself has acknowledged, the absence of Djokovic for large chunks of the season, and the string of injuries suffered by Nadal, meant the circumstances were favourable for a major breakthrough. After surviving two five-set epics in a row to make the US Open final, even the indefatigable Alcaraz must have been relieved not to see one of the game’s all-time greats on the opposite side of the net. 

Of course, Alcaraz was not the only Spaniard to make hay while the sun shone. Nadal too benefited from the absence of Djokovic, notably claiming his first Australian Open title in 13 years in the absence of the record nine-time champion. Yet Nadal did get the better of his rival on the one occasion the pair crossed paths, prevailing in four sets at Roland Garros to avenge his semi-final defeat of 12 months earlier. And while Djokovic’s season was limited by personal preference, Nadal’s was constrained by the more pernicious effects of persistent injury.

Ultimately, the facts speak for themselves. In a year blighted by a chronic foot injury, a fractured rib and an abdominal tear that curtailed his Wimbledon challenge and recurred at the US Open, Nadal won back-to-back majors to take his overall tally to 22, a men’s record. He compiled a career-best 20-match winning streak, and won 19 consecutive grand slam matches. He required daily anaesthetic injections to make it through the French Open, where he claimed a 14th title, and radiofrequency ablation treatment – the use of heat to destroy nerve fibres carrying pain signals to the brain – even to make the starting line at Wimbledon. 

It was a monumental effort by any reckoning; from a player whose very future in the game looked doubtful at the turn of the year, it was nothing short of superhuman. Nadal made history while held together with sticky-back plastic and fairydust. Any of his rivals would gladly exchange their seasons for his.  

Most improved player: Taylor Fritz

Since each step up the rankings ladder gets progressively tougher, any consideration of the year’s most improved player must take account of more than simply how many rungs were climbed. If quantity alone were all that mattered, Britain’s Jack Draper would be a shoo-in for this category after rising 223 places to end the year ranked 42nd. He would be closely followed by Holger Rune, the exciting young Dane who started the year at 103rd, but briefly broke the top 10 after defeating Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 title in Paris last month.

Yet Draper and Rune, respectively aged 20 and 19, are at the beginning of their professional odysseys; at this stage, it would be more surprising if such a richly talented pair did not improve. The same cannot be said of Taylor Fritz. Hailed as the future of American men’s tennis since his teens, a billing he often struggled to live up to in his early years on tour, the former US Open junior champion has taken time to grow into his attacking game. But Fritz, encouraged by parents with an impeccable tennis pedigree – his mother, Kathy May, is a former top-10 player while his father, Guy, is a former pro and respected coach – has always believed he was on the right path. At the age of 25, his patience, conviction and exemplary work rate have been rewarded with the finest season of his career.

Having started the year ranked 23rd, Fritz finished in ninth spot after winning a maiden Masters title in Indian Wells, reaching a first major quarter-final at Wimbledon, and marking his ATP Finals debut with a run to the last four. 

Yet his rise has been about more than just results. Witness the courage he showed in defying a badly twisted ankle to end Nadal’s unbeaten start to the year in the Indian Wells final. The determination that saw him bounce back from a bout of Covid to win the Japan Open, a result that secured his top-10 breakthrough. The self-belief he exuded to beat Nadal again in Turin, in the process avenging a heart-breaking five-set defeat to the injury-stricken Spaniard at the All England Club. The Californian always had the weapons to reach the top, but such moments spoke of a player who, mentally and emotionally, has come of age as a competitor. 

To claim his place among the elite, Fritz took 14 of the toughest steps in tennis. He has demonstrated that he belongs at the top table – something his teenage rivals, for all the giant strides they have taken, have yet to do – and laid the foundations to achieve even more in 2023.

Most heart-warming moment: Alcaraz and Ferrero

As Carlos Alcaraz cut a springtime swathe through the Miami Open draw, his mind was elsewhere. The performances that propelled him into his first Masters 1000 final spoke of a player fully focused on building on an impressive semi-final run in Indian Wells. But no sooner had each victory been sealed than Alcaraz’s thoughts turned to his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who returned to Spain on the eve of the tournament following the death of his father, Eduardo. 

The pair have been working together since Alcaraz was 16, and the close bond between them was underlined in the series of messages the teenager sent to his mentor after his matches, initially on social media and then in notes scrawled on TV camera lenses. “Juanki x Eduardo”, Alcaraz wrote after his quarter-final win over Miomir Kecmanovic; “For you Juanki. This win is yours,” he added after beating Hubert Hurkacz, the defending champion, to reach what was then the biggest final of his life.

What Alcaraz did not expect was that Ferrero would hotfoot it back to Miami in time for the final. Touching footage emerged of their joyful reunion in a hotel lobby, yet that was nothing compared to the emotionally charged embrace they shared after Alcaraz completed a straight-sets victory over Casper Ruud in the final. The moment, which you can watch above, requires no words.

Best newcomer: Holger Rune

With an extraordinary burst of form that brought 19 wins from his final 21 matches of the year – and titles in Stockholm and Paris to sit alongside his spring triumph on the clay courts of Munich – Rune narrowly pips Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti to the post. While his progress this year has been somewhat overshadowed by the achievements of Alcaraz, the Dane is rapidly making up ground on his childhood rival. An impressive French Open victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas secured a first grand slam quarter-final, and Rune bested the Greek again in the Stockholm final – one of nine wins he claimed over top-10 players this season – to finish the season ranked 11th. 

The teenager’s volatile temperament may not be everyone’s cup of tea, particularly when counterpointed by the humility and sportsmanship of Alcaraz, but there was a time, before the big-three era, when such contrasts of character were the lifeblood of the men’s game. Rune’s pugnacity, epitomised by his bust-up with Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, is reminiscent of Jimmy Connors – and marks him out as the perfect foil to the Spaniard. 

Musetti, too, is beginning to flourish. A title winner in Naples and Hamburg (where he scored a notable victory over Alcaraz), the 20-year-old now needs to parlay that form into the majors, where his deepest run remains a last-16 appearance at Roland Garros in 2021, when he memorably led Djokovic by two sets to love. With Alcaraz leading the pack and Auger-Aliassime, 22, and Sinner, 21, also continuing to make waves, the future of the men’s game would appear to be in safe hands. 

Best match: Nadal v Medvedev, Australian Open final

While it feels almost churlish to look beyond the epic sequence of victories that earned Alcaraz the US Open title, there is also a danger of recency bias. Admittedly, for sheer quality, it is doubtful any men’s match played in 2022 eclipsed the Spaniard’s quarter-final comeback from match point down against Jannik Sinner, a gladiatorial duel that spanned five hours and 15 minutes, featured 119 winners, and propelled Alcaraz into the last four of a major for the first time. But context matters, too, and while we may yet come to see Alcaraz’s maiden slam as an anchor in time, demarcating the start of a new era, the stakes in the Australian Open final were greater still – however distant last January may feel at this point. 

History was not only made, but quite possibly reshaped. On the one hand, in claiming his 21st major, Nadal finally broke clear of Djokovic and Roger Federer in the all-time grand slam reckoning. No less significantly, he also arrested the gathering momentum of Daniil Medvedev, who was aiming for a second successive slam title but instead came away with a defeat so damaging that it seemed to cast a pall over his entire season. Lest we forget, the Russian overtook Djokovic at the top of the rankings a few weeks later. Would a Medvedev infused with the confidence of a second successive slam, and riding high at No 1, have become an unstoppable force? We shall never know.

What we do know is that, at the age of 35, Nadal reaffirmed his ability to win hard-court majors. He completed a double career grand slam, only the second player to do so in the open era. He fought back from two sets down for the first time since 2007, and the fourth (and most significant) time in his career. And he did so against a player 10 years his junior, who hit seven more winners and 20 more aces, made 16 fewer unforced errors, and won seven more points overall. 

Whatever the match lacked in quality relative to Alcaraz-Sinner – and it is true that Nadal was thoroughly outplayed for the first two sets, and trailed 2-3, 0-40 in the third – it more than made up for in drama and variety, the Spaniard leaving no tactical stone unturned as he claimed one of the finest victories of his career.

 Biggest disappointment: Stefanos Tsitsipas

It’s hard to know what to make of Stefanos Tsitsipas’s year. On the one hand, the Greek reached an Australian Open semi-final, won titles in Monte Carlo and Mallorca, and went into the final week of the season with a shot at the year-end No 1 ranking. On the other, he often underwhelmed on the big occasions, losing to Rune in the last 16 at Roland Garros, where he was a finalist in 2021, and suffering a shock first-round defeat to the Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan at the US Open. 

More worryingly, Tsitsipas exhibited a petulance that sits uncomfortably with his status as an elite player. He started the year by injuring his father, Apostolos, after furiously smashing his racket into an advertising hoarding during a narrow loss to Nick Kyrgios at the ATP Cup. He ended it by angrily swatting a ball in the direction of his parents at the ATP Finals, where he afterwards made disparaging comments about Andrey Rublev, remarking that the Russian “prevailed with the few tools that he has”. At Wimbledon, where he was once again beaten by Kyrgios, he fired a ball into the crowd and later branded his opponent a bully with “a very evil side to him”.

In Tsitsipas’s defence, anyone can be driven to distraction by Kyrgios. And he has since apologised for his comments about Rublev, attributing them to his (understandable) disappointment at the defeat. Yet such lapses of composure have enhanced neither his performances nor his wider reputation.

Factor in some frankly bizarre musings on social media – of which his (apparently plagiarised) suggestion that modern feminism has become “a cult of outrage that seeks to disparage men”, which triggered a huge online backlash and an (also apparently plagiarised) volte face, is merely the latest example – and it is hard not to feel that a richly talented and exciting player is not always doing himself justice.

Best occasion: Roger Federer’s Laver Cup farewell

When you follow the sport all year round, it’s not often a tennis match leaves you weeping into your keyboard. Then again, Roger Federer’s professional swansong alongside Rafael Nadal was never going to be an ordinary tennis match. 

On a night when the result was immaterial, Federer’s farewell was all about the aftermath. “We’ll get through this somehow, will we?” Federer asked plaintively as he began his courtside interview with Jim Courier afterwards. And we did – but, boy, was it touch and go.

The minutes that followed will remain indelibly etched in the memory of anyone who ever admired the silken smoothness of Federer’s shot-making, or bathed in the brilliance of all those history-defining showdowns with Nadal; anyone who felt the joy of his outrageously improbable triumph at the Australian Open after a five year grand slam drought, or the bitter pain of those missed match points against Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final, or countless other moments like them; anyone who admired his unwavering devotion to his family, his generosity of spirit, the sense of vulnerability that so humanised him, bridging the gap between global icon and us mere mortals.

Surrounded by legends, peers, rivals – and, most poignantly, cloaked in the comfort blanket of his watching family – Federer radiated gratitude and humility. The import of the occasion was intensified by the reactions of those around him. By the tears Nadal shared with his friend and rival as they watched Ellie Goulding’s impassioned vocal performance. By the lengthy embrace Federer shared with his wife Mirka when it was all over. By the hugs he received from his children as he implored them not to cry, and the obvious emotion of his parents, Robert and Lynette.   

Federer first impinged on the wider public consciousness when he cried tears of joy after his first Wimbledon triumph all those years ago. He left the sport much as he entered it.

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