It seems that the youngster galore continues in the ATP Tour now more than ever. Jack Draper proved that he has what it takes to shine on the big stage of the ATP Tour when he made short work of Holger Rune in the final of the Indian Wells Masters, coming up with elite plays and massive serves before closing out his opponent in two straight sets at 6-2, 6-2. It was the biggest game of Draper’s career, and he did not fail to impress at all.

After having a flurry of tough opponents in the earlier rounds, facing a big server like Rune did not bother Draper’s game at all. In fact, he was so confident that he dictated the pace for the whole match and kept Rune on his back foot for most of it. From every single baseline stroke to a precise serving game of his own, Draper showed why he deserved this success.

This win has been an unprecedented push for Draper, who now appears to be the next iteration of the great Andy Murray as the next best British star who is on the rise with the way he is playing right now and ascending in the ATP Rankings now more than ever.

Performance for the Ages

Draper finished with the highest rating for any performer in the Indian Wells Masters this year with a 9.15 rating. The British star finished with a 43% steal score, 67% conversion score, and 33% in attack. That says a lot about how he has improved his level of play and proved that he can be quite the star considering how he’s a mere 23-year-old who is still learning to grasp his game even better.

"It's incredible. I wasn't expecting this," Draper said moments after his one-hour, nine-minute victory. "I've put in a lot of work over time and I'm just so grateful and so happy to be out here to be able to play, my body being healthy, to feel great in my mind. All the work I've done over the last few years feels like it's coming together on the big stage and I can't put that into words."

Winning Groove

With the win, Draper now enters the top 10 scene and is now slated as the world no. 7 in the ATP Rankings. It can be remembered that this has been one of the best storied climbs in the season so far, as Draper had to beat two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz in the previous rounds before capping off his game at the final.

"I feel like I deserve it, in all honestly," Draper said of the milestone. "The amount of adversity I've been through, the amount of sacrifices, the amount of time that all the people around me have put into me and the hard work. It's an emotional feeling to know how much you've gone through and put in, and to be here now to say that I'm going be No. 7 in the world tomorrow, I can't tell you how much that means to me."

The final of the Indian Wells was also the first time that an ATP Masters 1000 finale was fought between two players born in the 2000s, and first between players who are outside the top 10 since World No. 26 Cameron Norrie beat No. 36 Nikoloz Basilashvili in the 2021 Indian Wells final.