Indian Wells 2026 produced probably the best duel so far, as Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper stayed for over two and a half hours into the tie-break of the third set, with the English player and defending champion Draper, in his second tournament in 2026 after his injury, defeating the veteran Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Draper, who dropped from a career best World No. 4 last year to 15 after missing the last four months of 2025, won this Californian Masters 1,000 last year, a tournament that Djokovic won five times, but last time in 2016. The match, only the second time they faced each other (the first one was in 2021, when Draper was 19, and lost to Djokovic), had immense quality from both, including a 26-shot rally that Djokovic won, but drained him, dropping to the ground. He then lost his serve in the following game, and Djokovic said that he thinks he ran out of gas.
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Indian Wells quarter-finals:
Thursday, March 12:
Arthur Fils vs. Alexander Zverev: 19.00 CET, 18.00 GMT
Learner Tien vs. Jannik Sinner: 21.00 CET, 20.00 GMT
Friday, March 13:
Jack Draper vs. Daniil Medvedev: 1:00 CET, 0:00 GMT (Thursday)
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Cameron Norrie: 3.00 CET, 2.00 GMT