Prior to this year, Jack Draper hadn’t played beyond the Round of 16 at Indian Wells. Now the 23-year-old from Great Britain is in the final.
His stunning 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 win over back-to-back defending champion Carlos Alcaraz came just three days after a reporter asked Alcaraz if he felt unbeatable at the BNP Paribas Open. And two days after Alcaraz playfully asked if he should buy a house here, where he’s come to feel so at home.
Needless to say, Draper’s win over Alcaraz, in front of a nearly full 16,100-seat Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, was at least a bit shocking.
The win is surely the biggest of Draper’s career. He will now play in his first Masters 1000 final on Sunday against Denmark’s Holger Rune, who beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
“Was a strange match,” Draper said. “At the start, he came out and made a few errors, I wasn’t expecting that. And then in the second set I lost concentration and it seemed to get away from me very quickly. I thought I did a good job of regrouping in the third and it got tight there, but I held my own pretty well and I’m incredibly proud of my competitiveness.
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“Honestly, it’s amazing.”
Draper’s win snaps Alcaraz’s 16-match win streak at Indian Wells, dating back to 2023, and denies Alcaraz of becoming just the third player — after Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — of winning this event three consecutive times.
Neither player had lost a set this year in four previous matches at Indian Wells.
[More: Holger Rune solves Daniil Medvedev to reach BNP Paribas Open final]
Draper ran through a Murder’s Row of players to reach the semifinals against Alcaraz. He beat Brazilian rising star João Fonseca in his first match, before beating American Jenson Brooksby next. He then beat the top two of the three top Americans, third-seeded Taylor Fritz and 11th-seeded Ben Shelton.
On Saturday, Draper’s serve gave Alcaraz trouble in the opening set. A lefty, Draper’s slider serve, which cuts across the court like a slice, awarded him three aces in a dominant opening set.
The opening set lasted just 23 minutes.
Alcaraz, the second seed in the draw, found his way back into the match with a resurgent second set, fist pumping after big points as the crowd roared in his favor.
“This is what Alcaraz does,” Tennis Channel commentator Jim Courier said. “He whips the crowd up like a wave and then rides it.”
But in the third set, Draper, the 13th seed in the draw, secured a huge point on a review in the third game. That helped him take the early break. He then went up another break before Alcaraz broke back to make the 10th game very interesting.
Draper was able to hold serve in that game, with Alcaraz making a few unforced errors, to hold on to the win.
Alcaraz had nine break point opportunities in the match, but converted on just four of them. On the other side, Draper converted on four of the five break point opportunities he had.
“It got a little tight in the end,” Draper said, “but I’m proud of how I held my nerve.”
With the win, he’ll move into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time Monday.
Draper and Rune have faced each other only once before as pros. It was last year in Cincinnati, and Rune won. But if Draper plays the way he did Saturday, it should be anyone’s match.
“He’s gained a lot of confidence,” Rune said. “He’s been improving. He’s a lefty. Great serve. I think he’s been serving well this tournament. Yeah, he’s gonna be excited.”
[This story has been updated to add new information.]
