Jack Draper earned one of the best wins of his career at the Indian Wells Open as he overcame five-time champion Novak Djokovic to enter the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 event. Draper absorbed all of the five-time champion’s punches and threw a flurry of his own to rally past Djokovic in one of the matches of the tournament, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Draper, now riding a nine-match winning streak in the California desert, will face two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in quarterfinal. In an opening set that went with serve for the first nine games, it was 24-time major champion Djokovic who drew first blood, breaking for 6-4.
After a trade of breaks early in the second, it was Draper who took the initiative. A break to love in the ninth game set the table and gave the Brit a chance to serve for the set at 5-4. He didn’t miss, and with the slate wiped clean, the best was yet to come in the decider.
The point of the match occurred at 30-all in the first game of the decider. Djokovic ran the length of the court three time and finally won the point with a drop shot that clipped the tape. Djokovic earned a 0/40 lead when Draper served for the match at 5-4 in the decider, eventually earning a break, but the 24-year-old quickly rebounded and held his nerve in the deciding-set tie-break.
Exhibiting the same steely form that carried him to the title last year, Draper continued to apply pressure and scored a break for 2-1. But the break disappeared when Draper failed to serve out the match, broken for 5-all. The two-hour, 35-minute test of wills finally came to an end two points later, with Draper holding steady from the baseline with the legend for two consecutive points to lock up the victory.