Melbourne

British number one Jack Draper was far below his best but managed to avoid a shock first-round defeat at the Australian Open. Draper, seeded 15th, twice trailed before fighting back to beat Argentine clay specialist Mariano Navone 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 in a mammoth four hours and one minute. The 23-year-old left-hander was playing his first match since October, having had his build-up disrupted by a hip problem. Draper insisted beforehand he was “ready to go” against 46th-ranked Navone. But the US Open semi-finalist’s usually reliable serve was broken five times and he committed a whopping 88 unforced errors.…