In the satisfying aftermath of his long-awaited breakthrough year, as he took a brief moment to rest before setting his sights on new goals, Jack Draper had plenty to look forward to. The initial plan for his pre-season had been to spend some of his time sparring with Carlos Alcaraz at the Spaniard’s home away from home at the Ferrero Tennis Academy in Villena, Alicante.

This was clearly an exciting prospect. Since one of his goals in the new year was to chase after Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, it was a perfect opportunity to see how one of the leading lights of the new era of men’s tennis works behind the scenes and to refine his own game against the best.

Instead, a familiar obstacle sprung up. Midway through the off-season, Draper suffered a hip injury that forced him off the court. Rather than sustaining the momentum he had built in his brilliant final months of the 2024 season and sharing epic battles with Alcaraz on the back courts in south-eastern Spain, he felt his progess slipping away.

During the worst point of the injury crisis, as his hip pain seeped into his back, Draper struggled to walk. He had no choice but to abandon the schedule he had planned. His inactivity left him feeling like he had no purpose.

The delirious first week here in Melbourne has turned out to be one of the most important experiences of Draper’s career. In the absence of form and confidence due to his preparation, he has had to scrap. He has battled through three consecutive five-set matches, spending 12 hours, 34 minutes on court, and facing moments of peril each time. Each time he neared defeat, Draper stood up and produced his best.

Draper has always been adamant none of his success was a surprise; he knows his potential is great. His physical issues, though, were a different issue and for a long time the doubts were compounding. Finally, he has shown himself he is capable of lasting the distance and that his body can handle the strains of this sport.

Having struggled with his physicality for so much of his career, Draper gradually came to the realisation that many of those issues were tied to his mental state. In the off-season, he hired a breathing coach. “I had a lot of problems with my sinuses when I was younger, so I breathe a lot through my mouth,” says Draper. “When you are anxious or when you have long points and you have to recover quickly, it’s not efficient to breathe through your mouth.

“I’ve been trying to reverse what I do and breathe through my nose a lot better and a lot more and sometimes you don’t realise how sort of uptight your body is. I’ve always been someone who likes to try hard and sometimes it’s just you have to relax. Especially in tennis, because you need to be free to let your muscles do what they need to do. If you’re tense the whole time, you’re not going to last too long.”

Although he missed out on the opportunity to train with Alcaraz, Draper’s determination and guts have earned him a meeting with the Spaniard on one of the sport’s biggest stages. As he has shown in their previous matches, there is no doubt Draper has the weapons and athleticism to challenge Alcaraz. In 2022, a lifetime ago for both players, Alcaraz defeated Draper 7-5 in the third set indoors in Basel. After retiring from their match at Indian Wells a year later, Draper toppled Alcaraz at Queen’s last year. Draper has been the favourite in his first three matches but in Melbourne he must try to play with more freedom against the number three seed.

After so many hours in his legs, though, the question remains whether Draper’s fatigue will finally catch up with him. Draper has served well at times while showing his variety and resourcefulness, but he has not been able to strike the ball, particularly his forehand, with the authority and depth he exhibited last year. Unless he can rise to the occasion and produce his very best, Alcaraz will shut him out.

Across the net, in his first tournament of the year and as he chases the career grand slam, Alcaraz has looked sharp. Armed with a new service motion, a shot he is desperate to finally turn into a weapon, Alcaraz has largely served well and he responded to his first uncomfortable moments with confidence. After conceding the third set to Nuno Borges in round three, he closed out the match with strong, efficient play.

At the beginning of the week, their potential fourth-round clash did not stop Alcaraz from jumping in Draper’s Instagram comments section to encourage his rival after a tough win: “That’s my man,” he wrote, also including the head, heart and eggs emojis that he regularly uses to signify mental and emotional fortitude. On Sunday, in the searing heat of Melbourne, the pair will put those qualities to the test.