Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Jack Draper earned one of the best wins of his career at the Indian Wells Open as he overcame five-time champion Novak Djokovic to enter the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event. Draper absorbed all of the five-time champion’s punches and threw a flurry of his own to rally past Djokovic in one of the matches of the tournament, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Draper, now riding a nine-match winning streak in the California desert, will face two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in quarterfinal. In an opening set that went with serve for the first nine games, it was 24-time major champion Djokovic who drew first blood, breaking for 6-4. After a trade of breaks early in the second, it was Draper who took the initiative. A break to love in the ninth game set the table and gave the Brit a chance to serve for the set at 5-4. He didn’t miss, and with the slate wiped clean, the best was yet to come in the decider.
The point of the match occurred at 30-all in the first game of the decider. Djokovic ran the length of the court three time and finally won the point with a drop shot that clipped the tape. Djokovic earned a 0-40 lead when Draper served for the match at 5-4 in the decider, eventually earning a break, but the 24-year-old quickly rebounded and held his nerve in the deciding-set tie-break.
