Jack Pinnington Jones gets Jack Draper seal of approval after fine Wimbledon win
While Draper's victory over Sebastian Baez, sealed prematurely when the Argentinian retired injured, was expected, Pinnington Jones marked his grand slam debut with the best win of his fledgling career.
The 22-year-old only left Texas Christian University a month ago after deciding not to complete the final year of his studies meaning, unlike compatriot Oliver Tarvet, he will be able to claim all the £99,000 prize money he is guaranteed after a 7-6 (3) 6-3 7-5 victory over Argentina's Tomas Etcheverry.
Pinnington Jones, who is ranked 281, was particularly impressive in the big moments, saving seven of the eight break points he faced, including two set points in the opener, and coming from 5-2 down in the third set.
The two Jacks have known each other since their junior days, with Draper giving Pinnington Jones lifts to training when both lived in Surrey.
'Jack is a really good friend of mine,' said Draper. 'Obviously he chose to go to uni so I haven't seen him in a really long time. Nice to have him back.
'He's somebody who is incredibly talented. He's, for sure, in my opinion, going to be a top-100 player. I'm really proud of him. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a good run this week.'
Pinnington Jones, who is also close to his fellow TCU alumni Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley, said: 'Jack has been great to me. He's always looking out for me.
'I just saw him after the match. He came up, congratulated me. He sent me a text just before I went on saying, 'You're ready for this, go and embrace it', stuff like that. It just means a lot he's there supporting me.
'Definitely over the last two, three years, seeing how well he's done, Jake has done, Norrie, all those guys, and they're all telling me the same message like, 'Hey, this could be you if you put in the work', it's exciting for me. I'm no longer scared of that hard work and wanting to get stuck in.
'It's a big decision in my life to leave college early and forego my degree and play professional tennis full-time. It's obviously now a job.
'To start your career with your best-ever win on the biggest stage you dreamt of as a child, it's sort of a perfect storybook start for me. So I'm really, really excited.'
Dan Evans won the all-British match against Jay Clarke to set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic, meaning 10 home players have reached the second round of the singles, equalling the best tally since 1976.
Seven British men through to round two, meanwhile, is the highest number this century.
Debutant Johannus Monday could not join them, beaten 6-4 6-4 6-2 by 13th seed Tommy Paul, and George Loffhagen lost out in four sets to Spain's Pedro Martinez, while there was disappointment for the three home women in action.
Heather Watson, who needed a wild card this year, began well against 23rd seed Clara Tauson before serving problems contributed to a 2-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.
'I just served like crap in the second,' said Watson. 'Honestly, I started trying to count when I would make a first serve, and at one point I was on, like, three, and I was in the last game of the set.'
Jodie Burrage's bid to kick-start her comeback from injury was swiftly ended by world number 208 Caty McNally.
The 26-year-old missed much of last year, including the entire grass-court season, with wrist and ankle problems and revealed after her 6-3 6-1 loss that she had rolled her ankle again on Friday.
Fran Jones made a brilliant start against Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva but was unable to secure a first Wimbledon win, losing out 1-6 6-3 6-1.
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