Draper, teenager Andreeva claim Indian Wells titles

Britain’s Jack Draper roared past Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells as Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva toppled world number one Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to capture her second WTA 1000 title.

The 14th-ranked Briton, who toppled two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, didn’t face a break point as he subdued the 13th ranked Dane in just 69 minutes.

“It’s incredible,” said Draper, a US Open semi-finalist last year whose preparations for 2025 were hindered by a flare-up of hip tendinitis.

“I’m just so grateful and happy to be out here, to be able to play, my body feeling healthy, to feel great in my mind.

“All the work I’ve done over the last few years, it feels like it’s all coming together on the big stage and I can’t put that into words,” added the 23-year-old, who also missed significant time with shoulder and abdominal injuries in 2023.

Draper said his energy was “sapped” after his big victory over Alcaraz, but his few nerves before the final quick dissipated.

“When I got out on the court, I felt amazing,” said Draper, who was rock-solid in his first Masters 1000 final as he raced to a 4-0 lead.

“I felt like I was in control. I knew what I needed to do. I just went for it and played to win,” he said.

Draper dropped just four points on serve in the first set as Rune, who burst on the scene with a precocious Paris Masters triumph in 2022, had 10 of his 19 unforced errors in the opening frame.

The Dane had managed to hold serve twice before Draper pocketed the set, giving himself set point with an ace before Rune thumped a backhand into the net.

Draper broke Rune to open the second set, and even though the Dane got a few more looks at Draper’s second serve he couldn’t take advantage.

“I think today was very clear that I didn’t play well enough,” said Rune, who had ousted Daniil Medvedev, runner-up the past two years, in the semi-finals. “He was serving amazing, for sure. But I think I could have done my part better.

“Jack was playing extremely well, but the few chances I had to make it difficult for him, I didn’t quite take them, because I wasn’t really trusting every shot of my game today.”

Andreeva tops Sabalenka: Andreeva, who last month become the youngest ever player to win an elite 1000 level crown with her triumph in Dubai, ended a frustrating run against the Belarusian to ensure she will rise to a career-high sixth in the world.

Andreeva shook off her first set woes and broke Sabalenka three times in the third pushing her 2025 record to 19-3 -- the most wins of any woman on the WTA tour.

“I would like to thank myself for fighting to the end,” Andreeva said. “I was running like a rabbit today because Aryna she was sending bullets and it was really hard to keep up.”

In a match of swinging shifts of momentum, Andreeva was in full control by the end, giving herself a match point on Sabalenka’s serve with a defensive lob that forced a miss from the number one and clinching victory with a forehand winner.

“The match point I just really tried to just put the return in, it doesn’t matter how,” she told Tennis Channel. “Then I just saw the ball and I decided I might just go for it.

“And I did,” added Andreeva, who sank to her knees in celebration after her winner landed.

Andreeva claimed her first hard court victory over Sabalenka, who had beaten her twice already this year at Brisbane and the Australian Open.

Sabalenka had powered into the final without dropping a set but it was another disappointment for the Belarusian, who was stunned by Madison Keys in the final at Melbourne to see her bid for a third successive Australian Open title denied.

Unlike in Melbourne where she played “like a joke,” Sabalenka said, this time she let her emotions get the best of her.

“Honestly, was me against me,” she said. “I made a lot of unforced errors on important points, and I just let her play a little bit better ... I was just too pissed with myself, because I think it shouldn’t be the way I finished and I was just pissed with myself.

“I should have just thrown that aggression on that side instead of being too hard on myself.”

Agencies