Draper only committed one double fault, recorded win percentages of 93% and 71% on the first and second serves respectively.
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Ten years ago, Jack Draper was an 11-year-old boy, training to become a professional tennis player and drawing inspiration from one of Britain’s greatest ever to play the sport, Andy Murray. On Tuesday, the 21-year-old earned arguably the biggest win of his career so far when he beat the former world no. 1 in the round of 32 of the 2023 Indian Wells Masters. Draper beat Murray 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, recording eight aces in the process. He only committed one double fault, recorded win percentages of 93% and 71% on the first and second serves respectively, and returned three out of 10 break points. The 21-year-old has advanced to the last 16 of the ATP 1000 event where he will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz.
After the match, Draper was quick to acknowledge the love and admiration he had for Murray growing up, and how his 2013 Wimbledon win was inspirational to him as an 11-year-old. “I’ve looked up to Andy since I was so young. I watched him win Wimbledon for the first time in 2013 and then I’ve had the opportunity to get to know him and practise with him often since 2019,” the 6-foot-4 lefty said post-match. “He’s a really special person, a great champion, great human being and I’m privileged to play against him on this court.”
Speaking about the match, Draper said that the conditions were not exactly amicable to play in, and that having an opponent like Murray made things all the more tricky. “I want to keep on trying to impose my game and use my weapons,” Draper said. “It’s not easy in these conditions. It’s quite slow tonight, the wind was a bit swirly and obviously playing against Andy, he makes it incredibly awkward for you. It’s something I’m looking to improve with my coach and it’s definitely starting to pay off a little bit more.”
Draper created seven of the 10 break points in the first of two separate sets. With a commanding 3-1 lead, the Indian Wells rookie made a strong first impression. However, he dropped serve to love when he tried to serve the set out at 5-4. The set moved towards a tie-break after two deuce games from 5-5, with both men alternating between magical and insane moments. After giving Murray a set point, Draper displayed incredible fortitude to hit an ace and never trailed in a neck-and-neck tie-break.
Only two points were awarded to the returner in the first five games of set two, in contrast, as serve dominance predominated. This changed when Draper broke for 4-2, and in the following game, he escaped 15/40 before breaking from 40/0 to seal the victory. Despite having a 14-year age difference, the competitors hugged each other tightly at the net after the match. With the win, Draper moves closer to matching his best ATP Masters 1000 performance, a quarterfinal appearance in Cincinnati last year, by just one win.
