By Richard Pagliaro Saturday, March 7, 2026
Image source: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
INDIAN WELLS — One set behind on return at BNP Paribas Open Jack Draper No emergency button was pressed.
The defending champion relishes the opportunity to work on his own pace.
Draper roars to victory over Spanish veteran Roberto Battista Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 won the seventh consecutive victory in Indian Wells.
The 24-year-old Briton has donned new attire, switching from Nike to sleeveless Vuori, adopted a new short haircut and is looking for a familiar experience as he aims to start the new season on the right side of winning the most important title of his career.
The southpaw Draper, who ended his 2025 season to heal a sore left arm following his first-round win at the U.S. Open, said that while three-set matches are an occupational hazard, he’s glad he has the chance to work overtime these days.
“I think the more time I can actually spend on the court, the better,” Draper said. “I obviously don’t want to play three sets, but I think, for example, today is the first Masters 1000 match.
It’s been eight months since the tour, so it’s hard to get back into it.
“So I think today helped me actually play three sets and be able to stay on the court longer and work things out and be in a tough spot mentally because saving breakpoints and having adversity in a match, you can’t really replicate the feeling of being in that situation.
What it looks like in practice and that sort of thing. “
In the deciding set, Draper broke serve for 2-1. During the match, Draper performed well on three break points and hit two aces to advance to the third round to face Buenos Aires champion Francisco Cerundolo.
Twelve months after his thrilling victory in Indian Wells, Draper is targeting a winning streak and retaining his spot in the live top 30.
“Physically, yeah, I mean, I want to spend a lot of time on the court. I want to compete more and more, but obviously I’m still new to coming back from injury and I have to stay sane and know I still have a long career ahead of me,” Draper said. “I’m still a while away from where I want to be physically because I have to make up for lost time on the training ground and on the playing field, but I’m moving in the right direction.
“So week after week, day after day, I’m getting better.”
