Jack Draper ‘overwhelmed’ to beat Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells

Jack Draper was “overwhelmed” after beating Novak Djokovic for the first time to reach the quarter-finals in Indian Wells.

The defending champion is playing just the second ATP tournament of his comeback after eight months out with an arm injury but has wasted no time imposing himself on the sport again.

Draper had faced Djokovic only once before, at Wimbledon five years ago, and came through a gripping battle lasting more than two-and-a-half hours in a deciding tie-break to win 4-6 6-4 7-6 (5).

“It was a crazy match,” Draper told a press conference in California. “I think both of us gave it our all.

“Just overwhelmed to obviously beat Novak, someone I have watched and admired and idolised since I was a kid. Just very grateful to be in this situation and go again tomorrow.”

Djokovic broke serve in the final game of the opening set and retrieved an early break in the second before Draper levelled the match.

Djokovic began to look exhausted in the decider as a number of gruelling points took their toll and, having held serve in a riveting opening game that featured a 26-shot rally, he was then broken at the next time of asking.

Draper’s lack of recent match play showed as he played a poor game trying to serve out the match at 5-4 but he regrouped impressively and clinched his first match point in the tie-break when Djokovic netted a backhand.

Draper will play in-form 11th seed Daniil Medvedev on Thursday evening, and he said: “I’m really proud of where I’m at with my game.

“I was saying to my coach I still think my level could be a lot better, to be honest. Not so much with the tennis but more my mentality on the court.

“It’s tough when you haven’t been on the match court for a while, especially against top, top players in the world again. They make you feel uncomfortable.

Djokovic praised Draper’s performance, saying: “He’s playing really well. He’s confident and he was always confident and physically very fit. Just overall a great player, great guy. I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament.”

Cameron Norrie is also through to the quarter-finals after beating Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata, earning him another crack at world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard is on a 15-match winning streak but Norrie has won three of their eight previous meetings, including the last one at the Paris Masters in November.

Sonay Kartal was unable to make it three British players through to the last eight, though, succumbing to the back problem that has dogged her this week in the second set of her clash with Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.

Kartal suffered the injury during her second-round match against Emma Navarro but managed to come through that one and beat Madison Keys before calling it a day trailing third seed Rybakina 6-4 4-3.

Kartal told BBC Sport: “Today it was unfortunately one match too many. A super tough opponent, so you need to be at your best. I was far from that but still managed to make it competitive.”

Rybakina will next face fifth seed Jessica Pegula while second seed Iga Swiatek breezed through to a meeting with Elina Svitolina.