Draper powers past Rune to win Indian Wells ATP Masters
Neeroj
Mar 18, 2025
Britain's Jack Draper roared past Denmark's Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells.
The 14th-ranked Briton, who toppled two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, didn't face a break point as he subdued the 13th ranked Dane in just 69 minutes.
He'll make his top 10 debut on Monday at seventh in the world.
"It's incredible," said Draper, a US Open semi-finalist last year whose preparations for 2025 were hindered by a flare-up of hip tendinitis.
"I'm just so grateful and happy to be out here, to be able to play, my body feeling healthy, to feel great in my mind.
"All the work I've done over the last few years, it feels like it's all coming together on the big stage and I can't put that into words," added the 23-year-old, who also missed significant time with shoulder and abdominal injuries in 2023.
In the women’s draw, Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva toppled world number one Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to capture her second WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells.
Andreeva, who last month become the youngest ever player to win an elite 1000 level crown with her triumph in Dubai, ended a frustrating run against the Belarusian to ensure she will rise to a career-high sixth in the world on Monday.
Andreeva shook off her first set woes and broke Sabalenka three times in the third pushing her 2025 record to 19-3 -- the most wins of any woman on the WTA tour.
"I would like to thank myself for fighting to the end," Andreeva said. "I was running like a rabbit today because Aryna she was sending bullets and it was really hard to keep up."
In a match of swinging shifts of momentum, Andreeva was in full control by the end, giving herself a match point on Sabalenka's serve with a defensive lob that forced a miss from the number one and clinching victory with a forehand winner.
Andreeva claimed her first hard court victory over Sabalenka, who had beaten her twice already this year at Brisbane and the Australian Open.
Source: AFP
