Jack Draper wins gruelling five-set battle with hometown favourite Aleksandar Vukic to confirm fourth-round spot in Australian Open and meeting with Carlos Alcaraz

Jack Draper will face Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of the Australian Open after surviving a whirlwind performance from home favourite Aleksander Vukic.

For the second time in three days Draper trailed an Australian by two sets to one in a hostile arena baying for British blood. His win against Thanasi Kokkinakis, with an ear cupped to the heckling crowd, was spectacular enough but this was something else.

There was a shattered racket and a dropped catch in the deep and, in the end, a 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 win. There was an avalanche of winners from Vukic and the wagging finger of Draper, reminding the crowd that he was still here.

Vukic played the match of his life, making an utter mockery of his ranking as the 68th best player in the world. Tennis is like that; there are players who can spend years on the pro tour making a good living, reaching the odd quarter-final at a minor event and occasionally winning a round or two at a Slam. But slumbering within them is a perfect performance and they wake up every day and think, ‘Perhaps this is the day?’

For Vukic, this day was that day. And still, somehow, it was not enough.

Both players came in having played two five-set matches. Vukic’s were both brisk, however, so Draper came in having spent exactly two hours longer on court than his opponent.

The British No1 battled back against his Australian opponent a number of times on Friday 

Aleksandar Vukic at times had the match within his grasp but Draper’s fighting spirit won out

There was the odd boo when Draper walked out. He was barracked by the crowd in his second-round win against Thanasi Kokkinakis on John Cain Arena and, while he did not tell them to kiss his ass like American Danielle Collins had on Thursday (that was comfortably the moment of the tournament so far by the way), he gave as good as he got.

This time the crowd were – initially – less of a factor. John Cain Arena, where that match was, is a happy home for the drunken and the boorish. The fully-ticketed Margaret Court Arena is more the preserve of the middle aged tennis fan.

The pattern of the match was similar to the Kokkinakis encounter. Vukic was serving well and teeing off on his forehand and generally seeing it like an Aussie rules football. As the match progressed he also made intelligent use of the drop shot.

From his level of play, it is a mystery how this was his first visit to the third round of a Grand Slam.

Draper had to weather the storm and then he unleashed some lightning bolts of his own: a brace of blistering forehands down the line as Vukic served to stay in the set. Those rockets brought up set point and he delivered the coup de grace with a drop shot that could not have been better disguised if it was wearing a false nose.

That turned out to be only a brief cessation of the Vukic assault as he rampaged through the second set.

It was a frantic match and six holds at the start of the third set allowed everyone to catch their breath. The rally of the match ended with Draper stretching for a backhand volley and wagging a finger in the air in celebration.

Vukic was playing far above his usual level – surely at some stage there would be some regression to the mean?

Hometown favourite Vukic was playing far above his level in the second and third sets 

Draper cut an increasingly frustrated figure on Margaret Court Arena late on Friday night

After conceding the third set, Draper took his emotions out on his racquet and smashing it into smithereens with the court

Instead it was Draper who cracked, in startling fashion. At 5-5, 30-30 he double faulted twice in a row, affording Vukic the chance to serve for the set. Draper had two break points at 15-40 but lost three points in a row; the third was one too many and Draper indulge in some blue-on-blue violence, crushing his ultramarine racket on the azure court.

That brought the crowd into things big time, boos resounding round the arena as Draper rummaged for a replacement in his bag. Vukic sealed the set with an ace and when Draper sat down he sarcastically applauded the crowd, and urging them to raise the volume – ‘Is that all you got? You call that booing?’ was the implication. We were getting a little closer to Collins levels here.

Draper was seething and he wisely took himself off court, perhaps looking for a dog to kick.

Just as against Kokkinakis, Draper found himself two sets to one down. Could he pull the kangaroo out of the akubra for a second time in three days?

But it was Vukic who produced the magic with one of the points of the tournament. On full stretch to the backhand side he sent a slice slipping and sliding down the line; Draper did well to scoop it cross court for a certain winner; Vukic motored after it and slapped a forehand like a tracer missile down the other line. It was a once in a lifetime shot and Draper could only give a mirthless laugh and applaud.

The British player was showing noticeably more energy now, though. The racket smash and interaction with the crowd had cleared the air and expelled some emotion that had clearly been building.

And with that his play improved. He was still not in control but there were fewer passive balls and more ‘good misses’ where he went for broke but overcooked it.

There was not too much wrong with his game. His opponent was running at 50 winners and 25 unforced errors by the middle of the fourth set – ridiculous numbers.

But as the match wore on, Draper increasingly showed more energy and spirit as he slowly regained control

A partisan Australian crowd gave Draper another opponent to face and Draper was game to taunt them 

At 2-2 Vukic went 0-40 up on the Draper serve; a break here would have been critical, one felt, but Draper produced some clutch serving to hold.

In the next game Draper shanked a return off the frame of his racket 60ft straight up in the air. Like a man in the deep on the nearby MCG outfield he got himself under the skier but dropped a bobbling catch. Next time, Jack, try putting your racket down.

With Vukic serving at 5-6 Draper had two set points. On the second, Vukic charged the net and put a half volley off his laces stone dead on the other side of the net. It was a barely believable pickup, the kind of shot that could have had Draper wondering if it was just not his day.

The tiebreak was played at an astonishingly high level but Draper won it by consistently attacking the net.

Draper took a 3-1 lead in the deciding set and had four break points which were effectively match points.

But Vukic saved them all and had the wind in his sails again, breaking back and holding for 4-3 with a Pete Sampras-style slam dunk overhead. There was then a nod to Rafa Nadal as he sprinted out of his chair after the next changeover.

Both men were playing out of their skin now and this was a hell of a watch.

After three five-set matches Draper said immediately after the tie that he was looking forward to his recovery

Draper will have to be at his best when he faces off with his next opponent – four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz 

The drama was endless. With Draper serving at 5-6 some spectators began whistling as he prepared to serve. An invidious practice which had umpire Louise Azemar Engzell spitting feathers. ‘Please, can we respect the players they have been playing for three hours and 42 minutes,’ said the Swede – who had a phenomenal match by the way.

On the very next point Draper won an incredible rat-a-tat net exchange and thumped his chest to the crowd like King Kong.

Inevitably and exhaustingly, a deciding-set, 10-point tiebreak was required to separate them. 2-0 Draper became 3-3 became 7-7. In the decisive moment, Draper struck, with a drop shot earning two match points and a massive serve sealing it, 10-8.

We are only 17 days in but this will take some beating as the match of the year.