Jack Draper wins wild Wimbledon boys' marathon

It would have been easy to miss, thanks to Kevin Anderson and John Isner’s drawn-out semi-final match, but on a court not far away, another marathon was in progress.

In the Wimbledon boys’ semifinal, it took more than four hours and 10 match points for Great Britain's Jack Draper to topple third seed Nicolas Mejia 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 19-17.

It was not exactly the 6 hour 36 minute crucible Isner and Anderson endured. But adjusted for their ages, this was basically the equivalent in length and arduousness, except with more pronounced agony and ecstasy at the end.

Draper's sympathy for his opponent mirrored the grace Anderson displayed in talking about Isner, too.

“I was thinking, well, I can't celebrate too much because what if I was on the other side. I know I'd be destroyed if I lost that match," the world No. 41-ranked junior said. "Yeah, trying to comfort [Mejia]. Yeah, he'll get over it I think, hopefully.”

The left-handed teenager, too, will have to “get over it” if he has any chance in the final on Sunday. You figure a 16-year-old can recover from an ordeal like that a little more quickly than a guy in his 30s like Anderson, but it's Drapers first time playing a match that long, by a landslide.

"I don't think anything can really prepare you for that sort of match as, like, a junior player," Draper said. "That's probably the longest match I've had."

Add the boys' semifinal as one more piece of evidence that a tiebreak in the deciding set is good ‘ole common sense.

The boys’ matchup was notable for another reason, though. Draper now has a shot at becoming the first British boys’ champion in over 50 years (in 1962, to be precise). Liam Broady was the last Brit to reach a junior Wimbledon final in 2011. Nothing captures the British sporting interest like the possibility of ending a long drought. Draper will need to stun top seed and junior world No. 1 Chu Hsin Tseng for a place in history.

On a weekend that sees England’s national soccer team playing the consolation match instead of the World Cup final, and two Wimbledon singles finals without a British player, Draper is reason to watch the boys’ final with more than just passing curiosity.

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