Jack Draper achieved two new milestones in his career after upsetting second seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
The British world No.14 pulled off an impressive 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, win over the Spaniard who was on a 16-match winning streak at the tournament and was bidding to become the first player since Novak Djokovic to lift the title for a third consecutive year. Draper, who also defeated Taylor Fritz earlier in the draw, is the first British man to beat multiple top-five players at the same event since Andy Murray, who did so at the 2016 ATP Finals.
“I feel incredible to beat Carlos in this sort of stage in the tournament on that court,” Draper told reporters.
“I have watched the top players in the world play on that court for many, many years now and it feels amazing.”
During a roller-coaster encounter, Draper fired 13 winners and capitalized on his rival’s unforced error count of 29. Heading into the final set, he broke Alcaraz twice which gave him enough of a margin to secure victory. It is the second time he has beaten the Spaniard on the Tour after Queen’s last year.
As a result of the win, Draper will rise into the ATP top 10 on Monday for the first time in his career at the age of 23. He is currently projected to rise to at least eighth in the world.
“I knew that if I won I would be top 10, and playing a semifinal against Carlos, sometimes that makes you feel certain things,” he explained.
“I definitely felt like my energy dropped (during the second set). I kind of felt a bit lethargic and my legs stopped working, and obviously that’s not ideal when you want to really go for it.
“Then after that set went away, I went to the toilet and kind of looked at myself in the mirror and was like, ‘You need to really get your stuff together.
“There’s no time to be tired, there’s no time to be sort of thinking about being down here. There is lots of tennis still to be played. He’s obviously feeling stuff himself. I just had to knuckle down and make sure I brought lots of energy to the third.”
VAR Controversy
During his latest match, Draper found himself caught up in a new debate concerning VAR in tennis. Early in the third set at 1-1, he won a point against the Alcaraz serve for a 30-15 lead. The umpire ruled a double bounce against the Brit but he managed to overturn the ruling a win the point following a couple of VAR reviews.
“It was a tough situation because I felt like I got the ball up,” said Draper.
“I know that Carlos had only just got to it and he missed it wide. So I asked Mohamed (the umpire) to look at the video review and was it clear that I got it up? But then it was the fact that I don’t think Carlos really had a good play on the ball and he missed it.
“I asked Carlos at the net whether he felt like Mohamed, when he interrupted, whenever that was during the point, affected Carlos’ shot because he missed it.
“But he said it didn’t, so I think the call was right.”
Meanwhile, Alcaraz has downplayed the significance of the incident by stating that it had little impact on his overall performance.
“Waiting for the ball reviews, they didn’t bother me at all,” Alcaraz said during his press conference.
“It was normal for the review, so all I can say is Jack played much better than me. That point didn’t affect my play at all.”
Denmark’s Rune awaits
In Sunday’s final, Draper will take on Holger Rune who has already played in three Masters finals, winning the Paris title in 2022. Rune dismissed former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-4, in his semi-final match to claim his 150th win on the Tour. Becoming only the second Danish man in history to do so.
“Playing Daniil for me is one of the toughest challenges on tour,” Rune said afterward. “We know each other very well, practice a lot, so it was super difficult. I had the right tactic but still it made it so difficult to play him because he’s putting in a great effort, great shots and is super solid. I’m very proud of myself.”
It will be the second time the duo have played against each other on the Tour. At the 2024 Cincinnati Open, Rune eased to a 6-2, 6-4, win over Draper. This year is the first time both of them have reached the final in Indian Wells.
Looking ahead to the showdown, Draper says his focus is on recovery and not thinking too much about his opponent.
“I’ll make sure I look after my recovery, not thinking about too much — that’s the thing with tennis,” he commented.
“You’ve got to get over wins like today, and all my focus and energy is on making sure that I do all the right things to give myself the best chance to win the tournament.”
