Jack Draper cannot linger on celebrating a great victory over Carlos Alcaraz as he faces Holger Rune in the final at Indian Wells, live on Sky Sports on Sunday from 8.30pm.
In Saturday’s semi-final, Draper scored one of the most significant wins in his career when he overcame Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion who’s a two-time victor at Indian Wells.
The Briton beat Alcaraz 6-1 0-6 6-4 to reach the final after Rune, the 12th seed in this competition, had defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, 7-6 6-4.
Draper’s victory sends him into an ATP Masters 1000 final for the first time and ensured he would rise into the world’s top 10 for the first time.
“It feels unbelievable,” Draper told Sky Sports. “I’ve been through so much the last few years with injuries and setbacks.
“It feels incredible, but I’ve got another one.”
Highlights as Jack Draper faced Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semi-final.
He added: “You’ve got to get over wins like today, and all my focus and energy is on making sure I do all the right things to give myself the best chance to win the tournament.”
It’s a point in his career that Draper, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year, has been determined to reach. He wants to keep this run going.
“I’ve been through a lot in my few years with playing and especially the last ones with some injuries and a lot of hard work to always try and get back to a decent level,” he said.
“It was my goal at the end of last year that I obviously had some good results, but I want to really achieve some consistency and get to the point where I’m pushing these top players in the world in the biggest tournaments.”
Draper is now relishing the final against Rune, spurred on by defeating an elite player like Alcaraz.
There was chaos at Indian Wells as Jack Draper was awarded the point following a VAR review, with the new system causing much confusion on court.
“That will give me so much confidence,” he said. “Obviously each day as it comes, you feel different.
“Against the top players in the world, they can change their momentum very quickly. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line.
“I thought I was going to feel really energised [on Saturday] after a day off but I kind of felt the opposite. I’ll be more aware of that.
“More aware of the way I’ve been feeling today and then I’ll make sure I lift myself even more the final so that doesn’t happen.”
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