Jack Draper romped to a straight-sets victory over Holger Rune within the BNP Paribas Open last at Indian Wells to say his first ATP 1000 Masters title.
The British No 1 delivered a ruthless show of on-court energy and aggression and an overwhelmed Rune may discover no reply, succumbing to a 6-2 6-2 defeat in simply 68 minutes.
Draper now climbs to a career-high rating of seventh on the planet after securing the best victory of his burgeoning profession.
The 23-year-old acquired off to a rip-roaring begin, breaking Rune within the opening sport, earlier than swiftly securing the double break for a 4-0 lead en path to taking the primary set.
The Danish thirteenth seed – showing in his fourth ATP 1000 Masters last – was damaged once more instantly to start out the second, his frustration boiling over as he shouted at his workforce within the opening sport.
Rune handed Draper one other break within the penultimate sport with a backhand shot that he despatched huge, whereas Draper fired a booming forehand shot throughout the online to clinch the match, kneeling on court docket along with his fists thrust into the air in celebration.
Draper booked his place within the last with a 6-1 0-6 6-4 victory over two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, whereas his run at Indian Wells additionally included victories over Brazilian rising star, 18-year-old Joao Fonseca, American Jenson Brooksby – who shocked world No 18 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 – and seeds Taylor Fritz within the spherical of 16 and Ben Shelton within the quarter-finals.
Draper famously reached a primary Grand Slam semi-final on the 2024 US Open and this watershed win at Indian Wells will solely gas hopes of much more success.
Draper: I really feel like I deserve it | ‘Seventh in world means a lot’
Jack Draper chatting with Sky Sports activities Tennis:
“It’s incredible. I wasn’t expecting this. I put in a lot of work over time. I’m just so grateful and happy to be out here to play with my body feeling healthy and feeling great in my mind.
“All of the work I’ve achieved over the previous couple of years, it feels prefer it’s all coming collectively on the massive stage. I can’t put that into phrases.
Draper proudly shows the trophy at Indian Wells
“I feel like I deserve it. The amount of adversity, the sacrifices, the time people around me have put into me.
“It is an emotional feeling to understand how a lot you’ve got gone by to be right here now.
“To say I’m going to seventh in the world. I cannot tell you how much that means to me.”
‘A day Draper will keep in mind perpetually’
Sky Sports activities’ Tim Henman:
“Absolutely brilliant performance. It’s been building, not just in this tournament but over the last weeks, months and years.
“It has been nice to see Jack come out and ship again and again within the match, the place he did not have the best draw.
“He absolutely took Rune apart to win his first Masters title, this is a day he will remember forever.”
Sky Sports activities’ Laura Robson:
“Draper can be so proud of how he handled the situation.
“We’re responsible of creating an enormous deal about his anxiousness, particularly after his efficiency within the second set of the semi-final [against Alcaraz].
“We were worried, when you saw him in the buggy on the way to the court, he looked very nervous.
“I hoped it would not have an effect on his play, however it did not within the slightest. It is simply wonderful, an incredible consequence for him!”
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