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Draper rallied from a set down to post a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) triumph over the 24-time Grand Slam champion, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinal of the event in California.
Jack Draper, Novak Djokovic.
British tennis ace and Indian Wells defending champion Jack Draper came up with the biggest surprise at the event yet on Thursday with his win over Novak Djokovic in the Round of 16 encounter between the two.
Draper rallied from a set down to post a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) triumph over the 24-time Grand Slam champion, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinal of the event in California.
Draper exhausted the 38-year-old Serbian superstar in a grueling third set, preventing Djokovic from reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since his last Indian Wells title in 2016.
“One point. It was great winning that point in that game, but I just ran completely out of gas,” Djokovic said of the factors that influenced the result.
“He played a sloppy game to close it out 5-4, and, you know, I got the crowd, you know, backing me, and I felt the energy,” Djokovic said. “It was, like, maybe I’m gonna take this one. It was so, so close.”
Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion competing in his first tournament since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, appeared to be feeling the strain as the final set progressed.
Draper, participating in just his second event after missing nearly six months due to an arm injury, kept Djokovic on the move with a series of drop shots.
Although Draper was broken while serving for the match in the ninth game, Djokovic’s resurgence proved insufficient. Draper will now face 11th-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the semi-finals.
“I came out here tonight and I won that match through determination and trying to problem-solve and do my best and have a great attitude,” Draper said.
“To come out here against Novak, for me the greatest tennis player there is, I’m just incredibly proud of myself,” he said.
United States of America (USA)
March 12, 2026, 09:27 IST
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