Dazzling Draper downs dejected Djokovic; ALcarz moves into last 8

Novak Djokovic was dumped out by Jack Draper in a slugfest Wednesday as the defending champion won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz sailed into the last eight of the Masters 1000 event for the fifth straight year and there were straight-sets wins for Daniil Medvedev and Cameron Norrie.

But Britain’s Draper did it the hard way, wearing down 38-year-old Djokovic in a punishing third set to deny the Serb superstar his first return to the quarter-finals since he won his fifth Indian Wells title in 2016.

The margins were razor-thin over the first two sets. The tide turned on an epic point in the opening game of the third that saw both players chasing down drop shots and scrambling for lobs before Djokovic sealed it with an overhead for a 40-30 lead.

He flopped on the court exhausted and was on his knees again after Draper won the next point. Djokovic would go on to hold serve, but he said it was the difference in the match for him.

Draper broke Djokovic in his next service game, but couldn’t close it out when he served for the match at 5-4.

The reprieve wasn’t enough for Djokovic, who led 4-3 in the tiebreaker but couldn’t hang on.

Draper, playing just his second tournament since missing the better part of six months with an arm injury, was delighted.

He won’t have long to savor the victory, with a quarter-final against two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev coming up next. Medvedev beat American Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4.

Alcaraz advanced with a sparkling 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) victory over Casper Ruud, extending his perfect start to 2026.

Alcaraz, who lifted the trophy in the California desert in 2023 and 2024, was untouchable in the first set, conjuring winners from every angle of the court.

Ruud stepped it up in the second set, but even he could only smile when Alcaraz seized a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker with another leaping volley, the Spaniard closing proceedings fittingly with a backhand winner.

Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with his victory at the Australian Open.

He followed that up with the Qatar Open title and with three wins under his belt in Indian Wells is now 15-0 on the season.

He next faces 29th-ranked Briton Norrie, who beat Australian qualifier Rinki Hijikata 6-4, 6-2.

Norrie, the 2021 Indian Wells champion, beat Alcaraz in the second round of the Paris Masters 1000 last year.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Iga Swiatek barreled into the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Wednesday, beating in-form Czech Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-0.

World number two Swiatek, who lifted the trophy in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 in 2022 and 2024, won the last 10 games to halt Muchova’s eight-match winning streak, which included her first title since 2019 in the Qatar Open last month.

That included being “proactive” with her forehand.

Swiatek next faces ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who advanced when 44th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova retired with a right hip injury while trailing 6-1, 1-1.

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells winner, also advanced by retirement, with unseeded Briton Sonay Kartal calling it a day as she trailed 6-4, 4-3.

Kartal had received treatment for a lower back injury during a medical timeout late in the first set.

She continued to receive massages on the changeovers in the second before finally calling a halt after going down a break.

Rybakina next faces fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, whose 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Belinda Bencic marked her first victory over the Swiss veteran after four defeats.

Up 5-3 in the second set, Pegula thwarted a late comeback bid from Bencic, who produced a love service game then broke Pegula as she served for the match at 5-4.

Bencic then held serve to force the tiebreaker, saving a pair of match points before Pegula closed out the win on her third opportunity.

Agencies