In what looked like a generational tug-of-war, defending champion Jack Draper scored the biggest win of his 2026 comeback when he upset five-time champion Novak Djokovic in a grueling fourth-round encounter. The 24-year-old Briton showed grit to outlast the 38-year-old Serbian legend 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), extending his unbeaten streak in the Californian desert to nine matches.
Draper, who missed the second half of 2025 with a lingering arm injury, proved his 2025 title was no fluke. For Djokovic, this defeat ends the spirited pursuit of the Indian Wells crown for the first time since 2016.
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“I feel bitter now when I lose a match like this,” Djokovic said on Thursday.
“But I’m proud of myself for fighting and really giving everything on the court. That’s for sure.
“That’s the only thing I’ll take as a highlight. Just not giving up and trying. I lost to a great player and it was really such an even match for two and a half hours. But I’m a little disappointed.”
The match began with Djokovic looking clinical and untouchable on serve. The world number three dictated the game with his trademark precision and broke Draper in the tenth game to take the opening set 6-4. However, the momentum changed early in the second set when Draper found his range with a heavy left-handed forehand to immediately break Djokovic for a 2-0 lead. Although Djokovic briefly leveled the scores at 3-3, Draper broke again in the ninth game and served out the set to force a decider.
THE POINT THAT BROKE NOVAK
The third set represented one of the most breathless tennis of the season. In the very first game, the two players engaged in a breathtaking 26-shot rally involving lobs, drop shots and cross-court sprints that ended with Djokovic collapsing in exhaustion after winning the point.
Also read: Novak Djokovic has no plans to retire anytime soon, eyes LA 2028 Olympics
While Djokovic won the point to go into the lead, it took a toll on his fuel tank.
Draper took a 5-4 lead but faltered on serve for the match, allowing Djokovic to force a tiebreak. In a high-stakes shootout, Djokovic raced into a double-break lead at 4-3, but the younger Draper won four of the last five points to seal victory in two hours and 35 minutes.
“It cost me a break after that. It was great to win that match point, but I was completely out of gas and by the end of the third I started to feel a little bit better,” Djokovic said.
“He played a sloppy game to make it 5-4 and I got the crowd to support me and I could feel the energy. It was like, ‘Maybe I’ll take this’. It was so close, so close. Just bad luck, a couple of mistakes on my part.”
Despite the exit, Djokovic’s run to the quarter-finals showed flashes of the form that saw him reach the Australian Open final earlier this year. His journey through the Indian Wells 2026 draw has been far from easy, but the Serb has overcome the likes of Kamil Majchrzak and Aleksandar Kovacevic in three sets in previous rounds.
Djokovic leaves the desert with an 8-2 record in 2026, having lost only to Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne and now Draper in California.
In the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz clinically saw off Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-6(2) and Daniil Medvedev beat Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4, while Jannik Sinner survived two tiebreaks to overcome Joao Fonseca.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
12 March 2026 22:00 IST
