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Jack Draper claimed easily the biggest win of his career by winning the 2025 Indian Wells Open. Unofficially the fifth major, many consider this to be the biggest and best tournament aside from the four Grand Slams. It is an ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament and Draper took home 1,000 ranking points and a cool $1.2m in prize money.
The haul of ranking points moved him into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time in his career, whilst the prize money could perhaps move him into a modest flat in central London. Hopefully he isn’t pushed for somewhere to live though and can put his winnings to better use. Jokes aside, it was a brilliant tournament for the man from London, whose career prize money now stands at well over $6m.
Puhing him up to seventh in the world rankings, this was a statement victory that backs up his claims that he could compete with the very best in the world. The next Grand Slam is not until the French Open, in May and June, and Draper, far from a natural on clay, is not really fancied to contend in Paris. Wimbledon may be a different matter, however, and following his sensational performances in Indian Wells, California, some betting sites price him at single-digit odds to win on the home soil of SW19.
He is the fourth favourite to win, though his previous best at Wimbledon came last year and only saw him go as far as the second round (as he did in 2022 too). Nonetheless, only Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are deemed more likely to triumph than the young English ace, whose odds vary between 8/1 and 14/1.
Draper, who made it as far as the semis at the US Open last year, easily his best result in a major, is the fifth favourite to win in New York, although there is a whole lot of tennis to be played before then.
Win Shows Depth at Top of the Game
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) March 16, 2025
For what seemed like far too long, there was talk of a changing of the guard in tennis and the bright young generation coming through to overtake the likes of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Djokovic. However, so brilliant were the big three, that they were able to cling on and keep winning, with players such as Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and even Grigor Dimitrov failing to topple them.
We can very much say that now, however, tennis is all about its young stars. Quite how much that has to do with the decline and eventual retirement (in Rafa, Roger and Andy Murray’s case) of the old guard, as opposed to the brilliance of the younger players, is open to debate. However, fears that the retirement of several of the sport’s legends so close together would lead to a vacuum at the top of tennis have proven unfounded.
We have talked about Draper as being a youngster and given he only turned 23 last December that certainly seems fair. But Sinner, the world number one and winner of three of the last five Grand Slams, is also 23, whilst four-time major winner Alcaraz is only 21.
The Battle Against Dane Holger Rune
Draper beat another 21-year-old, Dane Holger Rune, in the final of the Indian Wells Open. His victory over Rune was huge personally but also gave us a noteworthy piece of history, being the first time that two players born in the 21st century had contested a Masters 1000 final. The champion also beat another highly promising youngster at the tournament, with his quarter-final success coming against talented 22-year-old Ben Shelton, from Georgia (currently ranked 14th in the world).
Which – if any – of these players will go on to win Grand Slams in anything like the numbers achieved by Djokovic and co, is impossible to know right now. Moreover, there are other highly talented youngsters coming through, including another of Draper’s defeated foes, 18-year-old Joao Fonseca. What we can be sure of, though, is that there is real strength in depth on the men’s tour right now, with a number of players under the age of 25 who have the talent to win multiple major tournaments.
Draper’s Route to Indian Wells Glory
We have already mentioned some of the players Draper, who now boasts three ATP Tour wins, beat en route to success. The full path to the title can be seen below:
- 1st Round – BYE (automatic advancement)
- 2nd Round – Beat Joao Fonseca 6-4, 6-0
- 3rd Round – Beat Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-4
- 4th Round – Beat Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4
- Quarter Final – Beat Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-5
- Semi Final – Beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4
- Final – Beat Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2
It was a hugely impressive tournament from the Brit, as he beat the game’s rising star in Fonseca, the local favourite and third seed in Fritz, America’s great young hope Shelton, the defending champion, and then the highly regarded Rune. That he only dropped one set in the whole tournament, and that was against Alcaraz, also speaks volumes. Draper’s powerful all-round game eventually proved too much for the second seed, and his win over the third seed, Fritz, was also very impressive.
After his win in the final, where he was imperious in losing only four games, he commented on how good he felt to have backed up his assertions about what he was capable of. Draper noted:
I said at the end of last year I wanted to be competing with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and all the players who are competing for big titles. It’s one thing saying it but it’s another thing doing it.
Draper and his fans are right to be excited and he clearly has masses of potential. His early career was blighted by injuries but he seems to have put those behind him now and has got fitter and stronger. He has claimed that he would be much closer to the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz were it not for the time out through injury and the extra experience that made him miss. It seemed something of a bold claim at the time but he has backed it up with this victory and British tennis fans will be looking forward to seeing what comes next for the world-class left-hander.