- British No 1 Jack Draper reached the quarterfinals of Indian Wells on Thursday
- The 23 -year -old produced one the best exhibition of his career against Taylor Fritz
Jack Draper is at home in the world's top 10 after producing one of the best performances of his career to beat Taylor Fritz and reach the quarterfinals in Indian Wells.
The 23-year-old took the world No 4 Fritz 7-5, 6-4 and will face another American, Ben Shelton, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Draper will have to win that and then his semifinal to reach the top 10 this week, but he will assume a minimum of a place at 13 and the way he is playing is only a matter of time until he has a single digit after his name.
Now it is strange to remember the concern when Draper sat in a back room in Melbourne Park and said he would have to handle his problematic hip for the rest of his career. He had just retired from his fourth round match against Carlos Alcaraz after fighting pain to win three consecutive setters despite feeling “horrible for his game.”
But after a few weeks of rest, he has returned with a revenge, doing the final in Doha and now emerged in California without dropping a set. Excluding his defeat in the open semifinal of Us Jannik Sinner, Draper has won 21 consecutive sets in the pond.
“At the beginning of the year I was fighting a little, but my body feels good now,” he said. “I feel very strong in each area of my game.”
British No 1 Jack Draper has reached the quarterfinals of Paribas Open after exhibiting one of the best exhibitions of his career
The 23 -year -old offered an impressive victory in the right teams against the favorite of the Taylor Fritz
Draper will face another American star, Ben Shelton, in the early hours of March 14
The British No 1 said last week that he was still finding his way in service in these slow and high performance conditions. Well, against Fritz he won 91 percent of the first service points and an exceptional race of three breaks followed at the end of the first and the beginning of the second set took the game.
“In the previous matches against Taylor, I felt like the one who defended most of the time,” Draper said. 'Today I played really aggressive tennis and I am proud of my performance.
'I served very well today and that pressed it. He came out well, too. Everything was clicking today.
As Draper continues to synthesize the disheveled and counterproductive style that he favored in his early years with a more muscular attack game, it has become an extremely difficult nut to decipher. He has lost only three games since October, winning 17, and the three losses were for the 10 best players.
Some defend themselves better, some attack better, but how many players can the draper exceed both axes? Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can, but I'm not sure there are anyone else.
Next, Draper faces a one -year -old man and a place in the live ranking behind him. Shelton is a left -handed partner and has the most lethal service in the world.
“Ben is a very high energy player,” Draper said. 'He competes very well. Obviously it is … I saw him play last night and it was like 150 miles per hour. I don't think that can do that!
'A left -handed like me, who comes, wants to enter the Top 10. I am looking forward to that confrontation. We have not played, so it will be very fun. '
There has not been a left -handed in the Top 10 from Rafael Nadal. With Draper and Shelton rapping at the door with the left fists, that will not be the case for much longer.