INDIAN WELLS: Briton Jack Draper upset the overwhelming favourite Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 to reach the Indian Wells final on Saturday, denying the Spaniard in his bid for a rare “three-peat” in the California desert.
Draper beat the world number three at Queen’s Club last year and had the winning formula again this time around, as the lefty relied on his lethal forehand to reach his first Masters 1000-level final, where he will face Denmark’s Holger Rune.
“It was a strange match. You know, honestly Carlos came out, he was a bit flat, I sensed that,” Draper said in televised remarks.
“Against top players in the world, they can change their momentum very quickly so I just got lost out there for 25 minutes and then in the third, I came out, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and somehow managed to get over the line there in the end.”
Alcaraz had not dropped a set en route to the semi-final but gifted Draper a break with a double fault in the second game as he struggled to find his rhythm. The 13th seed converted on another break with a fine forehand winner in the sixth.
But the momentum flipped entirely in the second set, where Draper put up 15 unforced errors compared to just two in the first, as Alcaraz hit his stride and neutralised the only break point he faced in the first game.
“It kind of happened to me (in the second set) what happened to him in the first set. I got tired, I got low energy,” said Draper.
Alcaraz closed out the set with a superb backhand winner and looked as though he would roll through the third with the crowd on his side.
But Draper, who retired due to injury in their last meeting at the Australian Open this year, was ready to go the distance this time around and made a perfect shot down the line past Alcaraz to convert on break point in the third game.
Draper sent an un-returnable backhand shot into the corner to go up another break in the seventh and was glad for the insurance as Alcaraz broke back in the next game.
The Briton closed it out with un-returnable serve, ending Alcaraz’s 16-match win streak at Indian Wells, and whacked a ball deep into the stands in celebration.
With the win, Draper will move into the top 10 for the first time in his career and would be ranked as high as seventh if he can take the title.
He will face an in-form Rune, who beat the Russian Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-4 after losing his last seven semi-final matches.
Rune, the number 12 seed, lost to Medvedev in the quarter-finals a year ago and the two were evenly matched in a gruelling opening set in which they traded early breaks and Rune battled through a marathon six-deuce eighth game to hold his serve.
Medvedev helped him to a break point with a fluffed shot at the net in the 11th game and the 21-year-old Dane carried the momentum into the second set, breaking the former US Open champion to love in the third game.
Down 0-30 in the final game, Rune clawed his way back and forced a fatigued Medvedev into an error at the end of a 37-shot rally on the penultimate point before clinching victory with a powerful forehand winner.
“He’s a very difficult player to play. He makes you play uncomfortable shots,” said Rune.
“I tried to play as good as possible, making it difficult for him, trying to, you know, play different kind of shots to mix up the rhythm in the game.”
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025
