Jack Draper extended his title defense in dramatic fashion Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday in Indian Wells, Calif.
The 14th-seeded Brit rallied past third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the quarterfinals.
Draper earned his first win ever against the 24-time major champion, though he had faced Djokovic just once previously, at Wimbledon in 2021.
An arm injury kept Draper out of action after the first round of the U.S. Open last summer until he returned and got to the second round at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, two weeks ago.
Now he has a signature win over a legend of the game.
“For me to be on court again these last few weeks has been emotional for me and I’m really grateful for it,” Draper said. “To come out here against Novak, for me the greatest tennis player there is, and someone I’ve been admiring and watching since I was a little kid. To do that, I’m just incredibly proud of myself.”
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz didn’t have nearly as hard a time reaching the quarterfinals, as he was dominant on his serve during a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win over 12th-seeded Casper Ruud.
The Spaniard never faced break point and lost only nine of his 49 service points in all, including going 29 for 33 on first-service points (87.9%). He fired seven aces.
The first set was a breeze, as he broke the serve of his Norwegian foe twice right away for a 4-0 lead. Ruud was better in the second set and held serve throughout, but Alcaraz took the first four points of the tiebreaker before winning on his second match point.
He’ll take on British 27th seed Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals.
“I’m just really happy about playing that kind of level,” said Alcaraz, the two-time Indian Wells champion who became the youngest man to reach the quarterfinals five times. “I’m really happy to get through and hopefully (I can) play at this level in the next round.
“I think I can have fun and enjoy, but I can also turn my mind and focus again. I try to play my best tennis on every point, but when a point deserves a smile, I gotta do that. That’s what happened today. Casper played some great points, and I had to enjoy that. That’s why we both play tennis.”
Norrie eased past Australian Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-2. Norrie broke Hijikata’s serve three times in six opportunities and also went 8-of-13 on net points.
Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev also advanced to the quarterfinals by beating American Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4. Medvedev will next face Draper.
Medvedev finished with a 9-1 edge in aces and saved 4 of 5 break points along the way. He was aggressive, hitting 34 winners and taking 9 of 10 net points.
“When I’m in confidence, I’m an aggressive player,” Medvedev said. “… So when I’m hitting the ball the way I hit now, I can be aggressive and can put a lot of pressure on my opponents and still being able to be great in defense, and that’s what makes it tough.”
Michelsen, a 21-year-old California native, was vying for his second quarterfinal berth at an ATP 1000 event following the Canadian Open last year.
“It’s a great tournament,” Michelsen said. “I had to beat a lot of good guys to get to the fourth round, and I’m playing some good ball right now, and played a guy (Medvedev) who we just talked about, it’s a tough matchup for me. That’s tennis. Life moves on, and on to Miami in a couple days. Yeah, feeling good.”
–Field Level Media
