Jack Draper was proud of the heart he showed in winning ugly after coming through a five-set battle in the first round of the Australian Open for the second year in a row.

Twelve months ago, the British number one vomited into a courtside bin at the end of a gruelling win over Marcos Giron in intense Melbourne heat.

It was cooler and breezier this time, with Draper’s biggest problem against Argentinian Mariano Navone being his own inconsistency after a disrupted build-up caused by a hip injury.

Draper committed a whopping 88 unforced errors and looked to be heading for defeat at two sets to one down but dug himself out of a big hole to win 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 after four hours and one minute.

“I think I showed a lot of heart today,” said the 15th seed. “It wasn’t pretty at all. Was nowhere near my best. Sometimes it’s about showing some heart. I’m really, really proud of that today. I think that’s a big win.”

Draper was forced to miss a training block with Carlos Alcaraz and the United Cup because of the hip problem he sustained in pre-season but he spoke confidently about his prospects ahead of the tournament.

However, the 23-year-old looked out of sorts from the start, spraying errors and mistiming shots as Navone moved an early break ahead.

The British star, a potential dark horse after his run to the semi-finals of the US Open, settled into the contest in the second set and seemed to have turned the corner when he broke serve to start the third.

But instead the errors returned and he dropped serve twice in a row, with 47th-ranked Navone going on to take the set.

History nearly repeated itself in the fourth set as Draper broke early only to be pegged back, and, had Navone taken more than one of his five break points, he may well have emerged victorious.

But Draper dug in, broke again to lead 5-3 and was finally able to find some breathing space in the deciding set with Navone feeling the pace physically.

“I spoke with my coach last night, and we were saying I finished the year really strong,” said Draper. “Obviously a lot of matches, a lot of confidence, moving great, playing great. I built a lot of work over time.

“In the last month, obviously I didn’t play for maybe three weeks. I was in a lot of pain with my back and my hip. It was a really difficult period for myself where I wasn’t able to get any work for my body really. I wasn’t able to play.

“We said it’s not going to feel the same as the back end of last year. I’m going to have to play matches again, build up that confidence, I’m going to have to feel comfortable in my body and earn the wins.

“Today it wasn’t pretty at all but I have a feeling that, the more matches I play, the more points I build up, the more I put myself in match situations, my tennis is going to get a lot better.”

Draper, who next meets Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, admitted the hip issue left him struggling to walk and is something he will need to look after, but overall he was encouraged by the way he managed the match.

“Today, even with some bad preparation, after four hours I felt like I could keep on going for longer and longer,” he said.

“I think I’ve come on a long way in the last year. I think more from a mental point of view, as well. I felt really calm. I knew after a couple sets it was going to be a long match, I’d have to contain myself, try and stay calm.