Rising Briton Draper defeats childhood hero Murray to reach last 16 in Indian Wells; Alcaraz next

Rising British star Jack Draper moved into the last 16 of the Indian Wells Masters by beating his childhood hero Andy Murray 7-6 (6), 6-2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Monday.

Draper, ranked No 56, saved a set point in the first-set tiebreak and then pulled away in the second to set up a clash with world No 2 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

“I’ve looked up to Andy since I was so young,” Draper said, quoted by the ATP Tour’s website. “I watched him win Wimbledon for the first time in 2013 and then I’ve had the opportunity to get to know him and practise with him often since 2019.

“He’s a really special person, a great champion, great human being and I’m privileged to play against him on this court.”

Draper saves set point, pulls away for victory

Murray broke Draper to love when he served for the first set at 5-4 and had a set point in the tiebreak, but the young left-hander saved it with one of eight aces.

The 21-year-old dropped just three points on his first serve in the first match and pulled away in the second set to set up a clash with world No 2 Alcaraz.

Earlier in the tournament, Draper won against Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi (6-1, 6-1) and No 24 seed Daniel Evans (6-4, 6-2).

Murray, ranked No 55, edged out Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry (6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4) and defeated lucky loser Radu Albot (6-4, 6-3) in the previous rounds.

Indian Wells Masters, other third-round results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Jannik Sinner (11) beat Adrian Mannarino: 7-6 (7), 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (4) beat Sebastian Baez (30): 6-1, 6-2
• Marton Fucsovics beat Alex Molcan: 6-4, 6-2
• Stan Wawrinka beat Holger Rune (7): 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (8) beat Francisco Cerundolo (27): 7-5, 6-4
• Tommy Paul (17) beat Hubert Hurkacz (9): 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Alejandro Tabilo (Q) beat Jordan Thompson: 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev (6) beat Ugo Humbert: 7-5, 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe (14) beat Jason Kubler: 6-3, 6-2
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (23) beat Karen Khachanov (13): 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (12) beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 7-5, 1-6, 7-5
• Cameron Norrie (10) beat Taro Daniel (Q): 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2
• Cristian Garin (Q) beat Casper Ruud (3): 6-4, 7-6 (2)