Jack Draper continued his spectacular comeback from an arm harm by beating Francisco Cerundolo to arrange a last-16 conflict with Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells.
Draper rode his luck on the finish of the second set to clinch a 6-1, 7-5 win and arrange his first assembly with Djokovic since he took the primary set off the defending champion on his Wimbledon debut in 2021.
Draper, now 24, returned from an eight-month absence from the ATP Tour in Dubai final week, and his win over Cerundolo marked the primary time he has received successive matches on the similar match since Queen’s final June.
Draper advised Sky Sports activities: “I’m solely simply attending to the purpose the place I’m enjoying with out ache in my arm, so it’s not straightforward to really feel actually assured. Clearly I’ve been enjoying a little bit bit, however I’ve acquired to simply accept that my tennis isn’t going to be utterly there for some time.”
Draper breezed by means of the primary set however was severely examined on the tailend of the second as Cerundolo served to stage the tie earlier than dropping serve twice in succession because the Briton stepped up on the key moments.
Draper mentioned he must increase his sport for his long-awaited rematch with Djokovic, who reached the fourth spherical for the primary time since 2017 after squeezing previous Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Draper added: “I’ve been watching him since I used to be a younger boy and for my part he’s the best participant of all time. Whenever you come up in opposition to him he’s going to be there mentally, he’s going to make it an extremely robust match and play some loopy tennis. I’m going to must be prepared for that.”
Draper’s fellow Briton Cameron Norrie, the 2021 champion, additionally reached spherical 4 with an excellent 6-4, 6-4 win in opposition to the world No 6 Alex de Minaur.
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