Great Britain has taken a commanding 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup qualifying tie against Norway after Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie secured convincing victories over Viktor Durasovic and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer respectively.
Draper, Britain's number one, made an emphatic return to action after a lengthy injury lay-off with a bruised bone in his service arm, beating the Swiss 6-2, 6-2 in just 61 minutes. The 24-year-old had support from a travelling Lawn Tennis Association team as well as his new coach Jamie Delgado, who replaced James Trotman earlier this autumn.
Draper's comeback was delayed twice by the injury and he missed January's Australian Open to complete his recovery. He suffered a second-round exit at Wimbledon and played just one match after before ending his season early. His win was a gentle stroll past Durasovic, with Draper dropping just 10 points on serve, hitting eight aces and winning 88% of first-serve points.
He then produced three glorious passing shots - two off the backhand and one off the forehand - and moved well behind the baseline to suffocate Durasovic. Draper was only taken to deuce once, and that was when he served for the match at 5-2 up in the second. A thumping forehand and a long backhand from his opponent was enough to help the Briton wrap up victory.
Cameron Norrie later came back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to see off world number 133 Budkov Kjaer, securing a 6-4, 6-4 win. The 25-year-old had struggled for form throughout his career but has shown signs of improvement under new coach Jamie Delgado.
The two victories have given Britain a strong foothold in the tie, and they are on course to take the best-of-five match at the earliest opportunity. Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash can wrap up the win for Britain if they triumph in Friday's doubles.
Draper, Britain's number one, made an emphatic return to action after a lengthy injury lay-off with a bruised bone in his service arm, beating the Swiss 6-2, 6-2 in just 61 minutes. The 24-year-old had support from a travelling Lawn Tennis Association team as well as his new coach Jamie Delgado, who replaced James Trotman earlier this autumn.
Draper's comeback was delayed twice by the injury and he missed January's Australian Open to complete his recovery. He suffered a second-round exit at Wimbledon and played just one match after before ending his season early. His win was a gentle stroll past Durasovic, with Draper dropping just 10 points on serve, hitting eight aces and winning 88% of first-serve points.
He then produced three glorious passing shots - two off the backhand and one off the forehand - and moved well behind the baseline to suffocate Durasovic. Draper was only taken to deuce once, and that was when he served for the match at 5-2 up in the second. A thumping forehand and a long backhand from his opponent was enough to help the Briton wrap up victory.
Cameron Norrie later came back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to see off world number 133 Budkov Kjaer, securing a 6-4, 6-4 win. The 25-year-old had struggled for form throughout his career but has shown signs of improvement under new coach Jamie Delgado.
The two victories have given Britain a strong foothold in the tie, and they are on course to take the best-of-five match at the earliest opportunity. Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash can wrap up the win for Britain if they triumph in Friday's doubles.
Brits are killing it on the tennis court right now! Jack Draper is back and better than ever after that injury layoff, I mean who needs a long break when you can come back like that? 
And Cameron Norrie is looking sharp too, I love how he's improved under Jamie Delgado's coaching, those three passing shots against Budkov Kjaer were EPIC!!! 
And now all they need to do is take down the doubles match and they'll be golden! 
Can't wait to see what happens next in this Davis Cup tie! 
. Can't we just watch a 3-set match without having to read about all the details? Like, who cares that Draper won with 88% first-serve points? Is it really that impressive? And what's up with these endless stats and scores? Can't they just give us the CliffsNotes version? 
Awesome effort from Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie! I mean, Draper was a bit rusty coming back from injury, but he got the job done with some solid tennis 
. Jamie Delgado's coaching is clearly doing wonders for them - keep it up 
. Bring on the next match and let's see if Britain can take it home 
) of opponents! But seriously, these wins are super good news for GB. Jack Draper is like a new man - all fixed and ready to rock now 
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Britain is gonna take this Davis Cup thing by storm! 
i mean 10 points dropped on serve is literally insane! 
and cam norrie's win is just pure