BNP Paribas Indian Wells 2025: Jack Draper knocks out world No.4 Taylor Fritz to reach quarter-finals
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Jack Draper keeps on turning up the heat in the Californian desert after the Brit sealed an impressive win over former champion and world No.4 Taylor Fritz, while Sonay Kartal bowed out in the fourth round of the women’s singles.
Draper put in a performance to remember over the 2022 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells champion, eventually coming through in a 7-5, 6-4 victory in an hour and 19 minutes.
The British No.1 now takes on another American star in the form of Ben Shelton after he defeated Brandon Nakashima in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Kartal saw her dream run come to an end at the hands of world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka who won 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.
Draper extends dream run in California to reach the final eight
World No.12 Draper has reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells for the first time in his career and now remains the only Briton left in the singles draw.
“It is the best match I have played here so far in the three years I have been here", Draper said following the win. "There were a few moments here and there in which I was brave, which I spoke to my coach about before the match.
“Taylor is such an amazing player, so to come through in the way I did I am very proud of that.”
Draper has been sturdy on serve all tournament and today was no different as he went toe-to-toe with the 2024 US Open runner-up. Serve dominated the opening stages of the match, with playing coming close to finding a breakthrough until the 11th game, where the Brit seized his opportunity before going on to take the opening set.
Draper made another fast start to the second set, after a blistering forehand winner secured him an early break on the American's serve to spur him on to a comfortable 4-0 lead.
As the two-time ATP titleholder stepped up to serve for the match, some first signs of nerves crept in as a double fault handed Fritz a break. However, Draper produced some big serves when he needed it most as he went on to secure one of the best wins of his career to date with a hold to 15.
Kartal loses out to world No.1 Sabalenka
Kartal's run ended in a fourth round defeat to three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka.
The British No.3 came into the main draw of the tournament as a lucky loser but had since gone on to reach the fourth round thanks to victories over Varvara Lepchenko, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Polina Kudermetova.
Stepping onto court for what was undoubtedly the biggest match of her career to date, Kartal capitalised on a slow start from Sabalenka to secure an early break and lead 1-0.
However, it didn't take long for the world No.1 to quickly regroup and draw back level. Some powerful hitting combined with clinical returning that saw her win 16/25 return points in the opening set led her to reel off the next five games and gain the advantage.
Despite being forced to play on the backfoot, Kartal managed to stay close to Sabalenka in a lot of the games, but the experience of the Belarusian proved too much for the Brit. The Brighton-born star quickly trailed 4-1 in the second before Sabalenka went on to confidently closed out victory on her first match point.
Kartal will leave the desert with plenty to be proud of. Off the back of reaching the fourth round at her first WTA 1000 event, she's now catapulted to a career-high ranking of world No.63 in the live WTA rankings.
