Jack Draper became just the fifth British man to win a Masters 1000 title as he crushed Holger Rune in Indian Wells.
Twenty-four hours after a seismic semi-final victory against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the 23-year-old from London backed it up by taking home the biggest title of his life.
The 6-2, 6-2 scoreline fully reflected Draper’s dominance. Rune was tense and hesitant; Draper calm and aggressive. After early years on the tour spent rehabbing from various injuries, this was a crowning moment in a career which promises many more.
‘It’s incredible,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t expecting this. I put in a lot of work over time.
‘I’m just so grateful and so happy to be out here, my body feels healthy, to feel great in the mind. All the work I have done over the last few years, it feels like it’s coming together on the big stage. I cannot put that into words.’
This morning (On Monday morning) Draper will debut in the top 10 at No7. Is he beginning to feel like he belongs at the apex of the game? ‘I feel like I deserve this in all honesty,’ he said. ‘The amount of adversity I have been through, the sacrifices, the amount of time all the people around me have put into me.
Jack Draper won his maiden ATP title at Indian Wells with dominant victory over Holger Rune
The British star won the match 6-2, 6-2 just twenty-four hours after beating Carlos Alcaraz
‘To be here now and to say I will be seven in the world, I cannot tell you how much that means to me.’
He joins Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Andy Murray and Cam Norrie as British men to win a title at Masters level. Against Rune Draper served like Greg, volleyed like Tim and struck his backhand like Andy, all with the sangfroid of Cam. More to the point he lashed his forehand with a lethality of which none of his predecessors were capable. At times this pummelling southpaw display was reminiscent of Draper’s childhood idol Rafael Nadal.
The focus of team Draper this year is on improving his serve and on this evidence they have cracked it inside three months. Rune never got anything close to a read on it as 10 aces flew past him. Draper won 92 per cent of his points behind his first serve.
Rune, still only 21, was a teenage prodigy before going off the boil last year. This was his first final since Brisbane in January 2024 and the tension of the occasion clearly got to him.
Alcaraz was a bag of nerves in the semi-final, too, and afterwards said that was partially down to ‘worrying too much about his (Draper’s) game than myself’. It was quite the acknowledgement from a four-time Grand Slam champion and shows how feared Draper is becoming by his rivals.
Alcaraz played one of the worst sets of his career in that match and Rune was pretty awful throughout – Draper has an intangible but priceless habit of making quality opponents play way below their level.
Rune was broken in the first game of each set and the frequent glances at coach Lars Christensen went from nervous to angry to resigned.
Draper joins Tim Henman and Andy Murray as British men to win a title at Masters level
Rune (above) was broken in the first game of each set as Draper cruised to victory on the day
‘I had a few ups and downs, a bit of low energy against Carlos,’ said Draper. ‘I learned from that.
‘I knew I needed to be aggressive and play to win from the first ball. I did an amazing job of that.
‘I didn’t allow him to play. I felt like I dictated the match really well.’
There was not much of a reaction from Draper in the moment of victory and that felt reflective of two things. First, the startling ease of this victory. Second, an acknowledgement that this title is merely the next stone on a long road towards greatness.