Draper recovers to earn maiden French Open win

Great Britain's Jack Draper recovered from a sluggish start to tick off another career landmark with the first French Open win of his career.

Draper, seeded fifth, moved through the gears to secure a 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2 victory against Italy's Mattia Bellucci.

Draper lost on his first two appearances at Roland Garros but has returned this year as a genuine force on the clay.

"I think Bellucci came out and played impressively from the start," Draper said.

"I was proud of the way I was able to turn it around - I was more aggressive."

The 23-year-old Englishman's victory ensured six British singles players won in the French Open first round for the first time since 1973.

Draper, who was the final Briton to play his opening match, came through to join Cameron Norrie, Jacob Fearnley, Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal in the second round.

Draper's previous trips to Roland Garros have been memorable for the wrong reasons.

The left-hander retired during his main-draw debut two years ago and lamented being known as "the guy who is injured a lot", before struggling with his serve in a miserable defeat against 176th-ranked Jesper de Jong last year.

This year, he has returned as different proposition - and with a point to prove.

Over the past 12 months, Draper has enjoyed a steep rise and achieved a series of notable career landmarks.

He has moved into the world's top five after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at last year's US Open, winning ATP titles on grass and hard courts, as well as reaching his first clay-court final in Madrid last month.

Observers with a deep understanding of the game have long insisted Draper has the ability to perform well on the red dirt, with British former world number four Tim Henman telling BBC Sport recently his best attributes - his left-handed serve and crunching forehand - could "work on any surface".

Once he got going against Bellucci, Draper proved that again.

Cutting out double faults helped his first serve became increasingly dominant - climbing from 58% of points won with the opening shot in the first set to 92% in the second - while the volume of forehand winners also increased.

The venom of this shot was too hot for Bellucci to handle - and wowed the Paris crowd, who regularly gasped at Draper's power and accuracy.

Another forehand zinger on his first match point clinched victory and a second-round meeting with either France's Gael Monfils or Bolivia's Hugo Dellien on Thursday.