Draper’s journeys to Roland Garros have been memorable for the flawed causes.

The left-hander retired throughout his main-draw debut two years in the past and lamented being often called “the man who’s injured rather a lot”, earlier than struggling together with his serve in a depressing defeat in opposition to 176th-ranked Jesper de Jong final yr.

This yr, he has returned as completely different proposition – and with some extent to show.

Over the previous 12 months, Draper has loved a steep rise and achieved a collection of notable profession landmarks.

He has moved into the world’s high 5 after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final eventually yr’s US Open, profitable ATP titles on grass and laborious courts, in addition to reaching his first clay-court ultimate in Madrid final month.

Observers with a deep understanding of the sport have lengthy insisted Draper has the flexibility to carry out properly on the pink dust, with British former world quantity 4 Tim Henman telling BBC Sport lately his greatest attributes – his left-handed serve and crunching forehand – might “work on any floor”.

As soon as he received going in opposition to Bellucci, Draper proved that once more.

The primary serve grew to become more and more dominant – climbing from 58% of factors received with the opening shot within the first set to 91% within the second – whereas the quantity of forehand winners additionally elevated.

The venom of this shot was too scorching for Bellucci to deal with – and wowed the Paris crowd, who often gasped at Draper’s energy and accuracy.

One other forehand zinger on his first match level clinched victory and a second-round assembly with both France’s Gael Monfils or Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien on Thursday.