Draper thrashes Rune in one-sided Indian Wells final

The Brit dropped just four games en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title

Jack Draper holds the winner’s trophy at the BNP Paribas Open tennis 2025 (© AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill/SIPA)

March 16, 2025

Britain’s Jack Draper beat Holger Rune to win the Indian Wells Open title on Sunday in California, comprehensively thrashing the world No.13 6-2, 6-2 to claim his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

The scoreline was the third most lopsided in a Masters-level final over the last two decades, with Draper playing his best tennis of the tournament from the very first point.

The 23-year-old will enter the top 10 of the ATP rankings on Monday at No 7 in the world, having won 10 of his past 11 matches now.

“It’s incredible. I wasn’t expecting this,” declared Draper after the one-hour, nine-minute match.

“Yeah, I feel like I deserve it in all honesty. The amount of adversity and sacrifices, it’s an emotional feeling to know how much you’ve gone through. To be here now and to say I’m going to be No 7 in the world tomorrow, it means so much.”

“I’ve put in a lot of work over time. I’m just so grateful to be out here, able to play, my body feeling healthy. All the work I’ve done over the last couple of years feels like it’s coming together on the big stage.”

Draper's Dream 🏆@jackdraper0 wins the biggest title of his career!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/hcPUz0USAv
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 16, 2025

Dialled-in Draper targets Rune forehand

Tactically, Draper played a brilliant match with a clear focus on targeting Rune’s forehand.

It clearly worked, as Rune was spraying errors from his forehand wing while Draper was rock-solid on his own. This, combined with near-flawless serving (10 aces, 91 percent of first-serve points won) meant Rune was unable to make any progress against the in-form Brit.

Draper_victory_Indian_Wells_2025 — Mark J. Terrill/AP/SIPA

The Dane showed small flashes of fighting back into contention – defending a breakpoint that would have seen him go 5-0 down in the opener, and clawing his way to 30-30 on one service game in the second set.

Outside of this, however, it was entirely one-way traffic as Draper’s best level was far better than Rune’s below-par tennis.

“I came out, I approached the game well,” Draper explained. “Yesterday I was a bit low energy at times, I learnt from that. I knew I needed to be aggressive and play from the first point. Felt like I dictated the game really well.”

Draper leaps seven places in the ATP rankings off the back of his maiden Masters crown, sitting ahead of Daniil Medvedev and pushing Alex de Minaur out of the world’s top 10.