Draper Beats Rune, Wins Indian Wells For First Ever ATP Masters 1000 Title
Competing in the biggest final of his career, Jack Draper delivered a masterful performance. The 23-year-old from Great Britain defeated Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday to capture the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, winning the first ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.
“It’s incredible, I wasn’t expecting this,” Draper said in his post-match interview. “I’ve put in a lot of work over time and I’m just so grateful and so happy to be out here, my body being healthy, [and] to feel great in my mind. All the work I’ve done over the last few years feels like it’s coming together on the big stage, and I can’t put that into words.”
Draper’s win on Sunday was the culmination of a remarkable week that saw him knock out Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, as well as Carlos Alcaraz.
On Sunday, Draper never faced a break point, and converted four of his seven chances, two in each set.
“I knew that Holger was going to come out and be playing some really good tennis, so I needed to be aggressive and play to win from the first ball,” he continued. “I did an amazing job of that and I didn’t allow him to play, and I just felt like I dictated the match really well.”
As a result of his win, Draper will climb into the Top 10, moving seven spots up to No. 7 in the rankings.
“I feel like I deserve it, in all honestly,” Draper said of the milestone. “The amount of adversity I’ve been through, the amount of sacrifices, the amount of time that all the people around me have put into me and the hard work. It’s an emotional feeling to know how much you’ve gone through and put in, and to be here now to say that I’m going be No. 7 in the world tomorrow, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
