Britain’s Jack Draper defeated Holger Rune in straight sets to claim this year’s Indian Wells Masters, and the biggest title of his career to date. The 23-year-old dropped just one set en-route to clinching his first trophy at ATP Masters level, the level of the ATP tour just below the four Grand Slams.
Draper joins an elite club alongside Cam Norrie, Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedksi of British Players to win titles at ATP1000 level, and becomes the first since Norrie won Indian Wells, often dubbed ‘the fifth slam,’ himself back in 2021.
The Brit, who rises to number seven in the world rankings off the back of the win, took advantage of changed conditions for this year’s edition of the competition in the Californian Desert, outhitting his opponents with his powerful left-handed serve and forehand, which have become synonymous with his game.
His route to the final was anything but straight-forward. On paper, a first-round matchup against Brazilian teenage sensation Joao Fonseca should’ve been a test for Draper, but the British number-one overcame the 18-year-old-phenom 6-4 6-0. Over the following three rounds, Draper would defeat three home favourites in Jenson Brooksby, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, all without dropping a set.
Thus, the semi-final meeting between Draper and world-number-three Carlos Alcaraz had fans licking their lips in anticipation. But a bizarre scoreline of 6-1 0-6 6-4 in the Brit’s favour adhering to the old tennis cliché of “they were both playing well but never quite at the same time” left viewers feeling somewhat short-changed.
Draper won’t be one to complain however, as it gave him his second career win over the four-time Grand Slam champion, after he overcame the Spaniard on the grass of Queens last summer.
In the final, it took just 29 minutes for him to take control and win the first set against fellow highly rated young gun Holger Rune. The Dane was unable to ever really get a foothold in the game, as Draper stormed to the title 6-2 6-2.
With titles now at ATP250, 500, and now Masters1000 level, Draper will be looking to put his name amongst the likes of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic for those in contention for Grand Slam titles
It’s the third career title for the Brit, who’s career seems to only be on the up. With titles now at ATP250, 500, and now Masters1000 level, Draper will be looking to put his name amongst the likes of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic for those in contention for Grand Slam titles. His run to the semi-final in New York this past September demonstrated that the Brit was able to put aside physical doubts that had plagued his early career.
His victory in the desert speaks to Draper and his team’s smart decision-making in the face of these physical problems. After retiring injured in his fourth-round battle with Alcaraz at the Australian Open as a result of coming through three five-set thrillers, Draper, coached by fellow-Brit James Trotman, opted not to travel on team Great Britain’s ill-fated trip to Japan for the Davis Cup qualifiers. The decision proved to be the correct one, as it gave him the best time to prepare for the Middle Eastern swing, where he made the final in Qatar, before travelling to Indian Wells.
He now seems best-placed to propel his career to the levels he once thought his body would prohibit from ever reaching.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, it was disappointment for Novak Djokovic, who exited the tournament to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschlup in the second round, not long after announcing that his partnership with coach Andy Murray would be continuing into the future ‘indefinitely.’
Alexander Zverev, who has an almost free-run and becoming world no.1 for the first time due to the suspension of Jannik Sinner, also lost to a Dutchman in the second round, falling to Tallon Greikspoor in three sets.
Over on the women’s side of the draw, there was another first-time winner in teenager Mirra Andreeva, who defeated world number’s one and two Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek on her way to claiming her second consecutive WTA1000 title.
Andreeva, 17, cemented her status as the WTA tour’s most exciting prospect, with a win that shoots her to a career high of sixth in the world rankings.
There was less to report for Britons on the women’s side, with Emma Raducanu being knocked out in the first round. While Katie Boulter made it to the third round, the highlight from a British perspective was lucky loser Sonay Kartal, who made it to the fourth round, and moves up twenty places in the rankings to a career high of 63 as a result.
Attention for all players now shifts to the Miami Open, the second part of the ‘Sunshine Double’ with Indian Wells, with Draper and Andreeva looking to be the first people to win both tournaments in the same year since Iga Swiatek in 2022.
