Jack Draper said he was “privileged” to have been on court with Andy Murray after beating the three-time grand-slam winner at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Draper won 7-6 (6) 6-2 in two hours in his first ATP Tour clash with his fellow Briton.
Murray had a set point in the first but Draper saved it with an ace and the 21-year-old went on to book a fourth-round clash with top seed Carlos Alcaraz.
This moment 🥲@jackdraper0 🤝 @andy_murray
🎥 @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/w8VgxTs9tx
— LTA (@the_LTA) March 14, 2023
In an on-court interview broadcast by Amazon Prime Video, Draper said: “I’ve looked up to Andy since I was so young.
“I watched him win Wimbledon for the first time in 2013 and then I’ve had the opportunity to get to know him and practise with him often since 2019.
“He’s a really special person, a great champion, great human being and I’m privileged to play against him on this court.”
Draper’s win lifted him up to 43rd in the live ATP rankings, having started the week at 56th, one place below the 35-year-old Scot.
Andy Murray struggled with fatigue (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
Draper, who defeated British number two Dan Evans in the second round, added: “Beating Dan and Andy, that’s about as much confidence as I’d need for that (Alcaraz) match.
“Carlos is another level up, he’s been number one in the world, had an exceptional year last year, so it would be amazing to play him again in another real battle.”
Murray, who was averaging more then three hours per match in 2023 prior to his last two outings, felt tiredness got the better of him.
“In the tie-break I had a few opportunities but he came up with a really good return on the six-all point and then the second set was tough for me physically,” he told BBC Sport.
Carlos Alcaraz will be Jack Draper’s next opponent (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
“Just a bit of fatigue to be honest – recently I’ve played quite a lot of long matches and the first set was very tough physically for both of us, and here it’s not that easy to finish points.”
Alcaraz defeated Tallon Griekspoor in the third round to become the second fastest player to reach 100 ATP Tour wins.
The 19-year-old now has a 100-32 win-loss tour-level record and is behind only John McEnroe (100-31) on the list of players to reach the milestone, ahead of Andre Agassi (100-35), Rafael Nadal (100-37), Mats Wilander and Jimmy Connors (both 100-38).
Draper and Alcaraz have met once previously, at the indoor event in Basel last autumn, with the Spaniard winning a tight contest.
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