Britain’s Jack Draper on Sunday turned his childhood dreams into reality at Indian Wells, claiming his maiden Masters 1000 title and catapulting himself into the top 10 for the first time after a rapid ascent through the sport.
The 23-year-old downed Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 in a display of total dominance in the final, after overcoming the twice defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final, and swatting aside top US hopes Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
“I have been watching this tournament since I was a young guy, watching all the champions play on this big court,” said Draper, who would be ranked seventh after picking up the title. “It means the world to me, honestly, to be able to be a champion here.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was only 18 months ago that Draper — then ranked 123rd in the world — emerged as the unlikely hope for British men’s tennis when he defied injury and the odds to reach the fourth round of the 2023 US Open.
He quickly added to his credentials from there, beating Italian Matteo Berrettini for his first ATP Tour title in Stuttgart, Germany, in June last year.
Weeks later, he was in the final four at Flushing Meadows, becoming the first British man since Andy Murray in 2012 to reach the US Open semi-finals and he picked up his first ATP Tour 500-level title in October last year in Vienna.
“You dream of winning this stuff when you’re a kid. I think over the years, especially when you’re playing pro and stuff, it kind of gets lost a little bit, because maybe that, you know, when you’re young you think: ‘Oh, I’m just going to rock up and win,’” he told reporters. “It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to go through many ups and downs and emotions.”
Draper, whose competition schedule earlier this year was limited due to a nagging hip issue, credited his coach with providing a structured approach to help him weather the highs and lows.
“I want to achieve amazing things in this sport, but my main goal is keep on improving and keep on knuckling down,” he said. “I know there is a long way ahead of me. I’m very ambitious. I don’t want to just stop here.”
In the women’s singles final, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva fought back to overcome world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, winning a second consecutive WTA Tour 1000-level event to keep her charmed season on track.
The 17-year-old became the youngest women’s champion at the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999.
Top seed Sabalenka pulled herself out of a slump to bring some of her best tennis to the California desert this year and got off to a hot start, but her form unraveled as the match wore on and she was left to rue missed opportunities.
“After the first set, I just realized that: ‘Oh well, what I do now, it doesn’t work, so I have to change something,’” Andreeva told reporters. “In the second set, I tried to play a little bit more aggressive... I tried to really, I don’t know, create something to make her uncomfortable, and, you know, point by point, game by game, I managed to do that.”
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series