Victorious in his first Masters 1000 semi-final, Jack Draper now bids for success in his maiden title match when the British No. 1 takes on Holger Rune in Sunday's Indian Wells final.
Despite the double bounce controversy in the third game of the decider against Carlos Alcaraz threatening to overshadow his second ATP Tour victory over the Spaniard, the two-time titlist will compete to win the biggest title of his career against an opponent who played mature tennis to prevent a third consecutive BNP Paribas Open final for Daniil Medvedev.
Match preview
Although Draper secured a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 success against the two-time defending champion in Saturday's semi-final, observers may magnify events of the third game of the deciding set in which umpire Mohamed Lahyani called a double bounce before the Brit made a return at the net.
Convinced that the wrong call was made, the British No. 1 requested a video replay and was proved right, leading to Lahyani calling for a replay of the point; however, Draper demanded another rerun, suggesting that he should have been awarded the point as the umpire's interference did not hinder Alcaraz.
It went the Briton's way — giving him a 30-15 lead on Alcaraz's serve and he ultimately broke the Spaniard to take a 2-1 lead — although a hindrance and a replay of the point might have been the right decision had the second seed disagreed.
Regardless, that controversy should not distract from Draper's performance to end Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the Californian desert, where the sensation sought to emulate Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the players to claim three consecutive Indian Wells titles.
Despite being on the receiving end of a bagel in set two and seemingly battling physical issues, the British No. 1, who will rise into the top 10 for the first time in Monday's rankings, demonstrated the resilience that has seen him compete admirably on the tour in the last year and a bit.
Having defeated one top-five player (Taylor Fritz) en route to the semi-finals, Draper notched another elite scalp by defeating Alcaraz to eclipse Andy Murray (23 years 92 days) as the youngest Brit (23 years 83 days) to claim two or more wins over players in the top five since the retired player's feat in Toronto in 2010.
Now, he bids for the most significant career title at a 1000-level event to see Rune's satisfying run in the desert end in disappointment as the Dane seeks a first title in almost two years.
Unlike Draper, Rune has experience competing in title contests at the Masters 1000 level, since his stunning run to the Paris title when he defeated defending champion Djokovic in the championship match.
Since that success, two more finals at 1000-level events have followed in Monte-Carlo and Rome (both in 2023), only to fall to Andrey Rublev and Medvedev, whom he defeated in Saturday's semi-final to prevent the former world No. 1 from reaching a third straight final at the BNP Paribas Open.
In beating the two-time finalist, Rune broke new ground by becoming the first Dane to reach the final at the event, where he had a 4-4 record entering this year's tournament, with 2024's quarter-final run the 21-year-old's best performance after round one (2021), two (2022) and three (2023) exits in the preceding appearances.
Further magnifying the young player's run to a maiden final in the Californian desert will be highlighting the list of opponents he has defeated en route, including victories over two top-10 opponents — Stefanos Tsitsipas and Medvedev — and Tallon Griekspoor, who ousted top seed Alexander Zverev and was riding high before Rune took out the Dutchman in a last-eight three-setter.
Bidding for his fifth ATP title and a second at Masters 1000 events, Rune aims to record a 10th overall win in California to end Draper's dream of success to clinch his first crown since an ATP 250 success on clay in April 2023.
Tournament so far
Holger Rune:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Corentin Moutet 6-2 6-4
Third round: vs. Ugo Humbert 5-7 6-4 7-5
Round of 16: vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4
Quarter-final: vs. Tallon Griekspoor 5-7 6-0 6-3
Semi-final: vs. Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-4
Jack Draper:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Joao Fonseca 6-4 6-0
Third round: vs. Jenson Brooksby 7-5 6-4
Round of 16: vs. Taylor Fritz 7-5 6-4
Quarter-final: vs. Ben Shelton 6-4 7-5
Semi-final: vs. Carlos Alcaraz 6-1 0-6 6-4
Head To Head
Cincinnati Masters (2024) - Quarter-final: Rune 6-4 6-2
Both men faced off last year in Cincinnati, where Rune claimed a straight-set victory to prevent Draper from advancing to a 1000-level semi-final at the time.
Although he entered Indian Wells losing eight of his previous nine match-ups against top-20 opponents, Rune has secured three wins over such opponents in California, defeating Humbert, Tsitsipas and Medvedev.
While the Dane seeks a fourth top-20 success, Draper also heads into Sunday's decider on a three-match winning streak against such opponents, having fallen to four losses on the trot against Alcaraz (twice), Alex de Minaur and Rublev before the ATP 1000 tournament.
Both players have losing records in title matches on the men's tour, with Rune winning four of nine and the Briton claiming two of five.
However, Draper has won two of his recent three, while the Dane has been defeated in his two most recent championship matches in Rome (2023) and Brisbane (2024), falling to Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov and has been beaten in three of his previous four.
We say: Draper to win in three sets
After progressing to the final without losing a set, battling Jack was back in Saturday's semi-final success to snap Alcaraz's dream of an Indian Wells three-peat.
Facing Rune, who packs a punch when he is in full flow and ideally should be challenging Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz atop the men's rankings, will pose another tough challenge.
Although the Dane has executed at a high level and has played considered tennis in the right moments in California, Draper is backed to clinch a first Masters 1000 crown to record the most significant victory of his career.
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