INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Defending champion Jack Draper defeated five-time champion Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night.
Draper, 24, returns from eight months out with an arm injury and has advanced to the quarter-finals to face Daniil Medvedev, who advanced after beating Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4 in the last 16.
Djokovic led 6-5 in the third set before Draper fought back to force a decider.
“I still feel like the way I’m playing is nowhere near the way I want to be playing,” Draper said. “I came out here and won that game with determination.”
In addition to last year’s victory in Indian Wells, Draper also won the Stuttgart Open and the Vienna Open in 2024.
The 38-year-old Djokovic is a 24-time Grand Slam champion, winning in Indian Wells in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Earlier this year, Djokovic came close to winning an 11th Australian Open title, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
