Jack Draper secures Top 10 debut with win over Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells semifinals

Jack Draper has dethroned two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals of Indian Wells, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, to not only reach his first Masters 1000 final, but to secure his Top 10 debut.

He'll become the fifth British player to break into the Top 10 on the ATP rankings since they officially began in 1973.

BRITISH PLAYERS TO REACH ATP TOP 10 (5):

• Greg Rusedski [debuted on September 15, 1997]
• Tim Henman [debuted on August 17, 1998]
• Andy Murray [debuted on April 16, 2007]
• Cam Norrie [debuted on April 4, 2022]
• Jack Draper [will debut on March 17, 2025]

The first three names on the list all reached the Top 5, too, with Rusedski and Henman both peaking at No. 4 and Murray going all the way to No. 1. Norrie's career-high ranking is No. 8.

On Monday, Draper—who's currently ranked No. 14—will rise to No. 9 as a runner-up at Indian Wells and to No. 7 with the title.

Draper, who had already taken out No. 4-ranked Taylor Fritz earlier in the tournament, came out swinging against the No. 3-ranked Alcaraz on Saturday, winning 11 of the first 12 points of the match en route to a 2-0, 40-0 lead—and clinching a 3-0 lead a few points later. He eventually closed out the first set after just 23 minutes.

The Brit then brought up a break point in the first game of the second set—but Alcaraz fought it off and things swung completely from there, as the Spaniard stormed to a 30-minute bagel set.

But there was one more swing to come, as after two holds to start the third set Draper broke again, eventually opening up a 5-2, double-break lead. Alcaraz got one of the breaks back but the Brit served it out on his second try for his second Top 4 win of the week.

"It was a strange match," the 23-year-old Draper said afterwards. "Carlos came out and he was a bit flat, I sensed that, the first set went very quickly. And then I had a chance in the first game of the second and he came out with an ace, and it kind of happened to me what happened to him in the first set—I got tight, I got low energy, and the top players in the world can change the momentum very quickly. So I just got lost out there for 25 minutes.

"In the third I came out and I was very proud of my competitiveness and attitude, and I managed to get over the line there at the end."

Draper is now a win away from the third and biggest ATP title of his career, having won his first two ATP titles last year at Stuttgart (an ATP 250 on grass) and Vienna (an ATP 500 on indoor hard courts).

He'll face the man just one spot above him on the rankings, world No. 13 Holger Rune, who reached his own first Indian Wells final earlier in the day with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Daniil Medvedev.

Rune won the pair's only previous meeting in straight sets, defeating Draper in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati last summer, 6-4, 6-2.

The Dane will be going for the fifth ATP title of his career, and second at the Masters 1000 level, having won Paris on indoor hard in 2022.