Paris, March 13: Defending champion Jack Draper beat five-time champ Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
The 24-year-old Draper, who is coming back after missing eight months due to an arm injury, advanced to the quarterfinal round and will face Daniil Medvedev, who beat Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4 in the round of 16 to advance.
Djokovic led 6-5 in the third set before Draper rallied and forced a tiebreaker.
“I still don’t feel like I’m playing anywhere near the way I want to play,” Draper said. “I came out here and I won that match through determination.”
In addition to his win at Indian Wells last year, Draper won the Stuttgart Open and the Vienna Open, both in 2024.
The 38-year-old Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, won at Indian Wells in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016. Djokovic nearly won an 11th Australian Open title earlier this year, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz.