Teenage prodigy collapses in scary scenes

British teenager Jack Draper’s ATP Tour debut ended abruptly after he collapsed on court during his first round match at the Miami Open against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Thursday.

The sunny, humid and hot conditions on Court 2 appeared to have taken a toll on the 19-year-old wildcard during the first set, which lasted 81 minutes.

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With Kukushkin leading the set 6-5, Draper appeared distressed and he had his heart-rate checked courtside by medical staff before deciding to continue.

Draper’s return was short-lived as he fell to the ground while attempting to keep the ball in play on set point, rolling onto his back as medical staff quickly came to his aid.

With Kukushkin sealing the set 7-5, Draper retired.

A reminder that tennis can be brutal ?

Not the way Britain's Jack Draper wanted to end his first match on Tour.

Wishing him a speedy recovery ? #MiamiOpenpic.twitter.com/I5zCLVSrEo

Somewhat worrying scenes in Miami as Jack Draper keels over after losing the first set v Kukushkin. Legs buckled but getting prompt attention from the medics. Now sitting up. Umpire calls a retirement.

Really not good scenes at all in Jack Draper's ATP Tour debut. Collapses on set point. Been struggling with the heat and looked exhausted before falling over mid point.

“At the changeover, I was starting to feel my body a bit,” Draper said.

“I said that I’m going to carry on because I wasn’t feeling faint … But obviously when I got out there, that wasn’t the case.

“On the last point, I didn’t collapse. I actually just tripped because I was starting to feel really dizzy and stuff.

“In the last couple of hours, I have been with physios, trying to recover as best as possible, just trying to look after myself and move forward.”

Draper had an ice pack placed on his neck at the end of the first set before he walked off court.

Top-ranked Barty saves match point

World number one Ashleigh Barty saved a match point as she battled back to defeat Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova and reach the third round of the Miami Open.

Top-seeded Barty, the 2019 Miami champion and French Open winner, dispatched 149th-ranked Kucova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, advancing to a match with another Grand Slam winner, Latvia’s 54th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko who beat Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

Barty fired 15 aces, two in a rally from 0-40 down in the final game, to defeat Kucova after two hours and 27 minutes.

“There’s nothing like coming through a test like that,” Barty said.

“It was important in that match to stick to working and trying to figure it out as I went on. (I’m) just really happy I never gave up and happy I gave myself a chance to stay in the hunt.”

Ashleigh Barty of Australia.Source:Getty Images

The 24-year-old Australian avoided her first three-match losing streak since 2014 after having fallen to Czech Karolina Muchova in last month’s Australian Open quarter-finals and American Danielle Collins at Adelaide the following week.

Kucova, whose only win over a top-10 foe came five years ago, forced a third set after Barty sent a forehand long to surrender the lone break of the second set.

In the third, Barty sent a backhand wide to give Kucova a break in the fourth game and a 3-1 edge and they both held serve until Kucova served for the match leading 5-3.

On Kucova’s only match point, she missed a weak first serve and Barty smashed the second for a down the line winner.

Kucova sent a backhand long two points later to surrender a break and Barty held then broke for a 6-5 edge only to make three errors to put herself one point from a tie-breaker.

Instead, Barty blasted back-to-back aces up the middle and a backhand winner then swatted a service winner on her first match point for the triumph.

“Mentally you need to stay there to give yourself a chance,” Barty said.

“I was proud I was able to hang in there when mentally I could have gotten a little loose.”

Only Japan’s second-ranked Naomi Osaka can overtake Barty for the world number one spot at Miami.

— with wires

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