Jack Draper storms into Indian Wells quarter-finals as British No 1 shocks world No 4 Taylor Fritz in straight sets

Jack Draper is homing in on the world’s top 10 after producing one of the best performances of his career to beat Taylor Fritz and reach the quarter-finals in Indian Wells.

The 23-year-old took out world No 4 Fritz 7-5, 6-4 and will face another American, Ben Shelton, in the early hours of Friday morning UK time.

Draper will have to win that and then his semi-final to reach the top 10 this week, but he will move up a minimum of one spot to 13th and the way he is playing it is only a matter of time until he has a single digit after his name.

It is strange now to recall the concern when Draper sat in a back room at Melbourne Park and said he would have to manage his troublesome hip for the rest of his career. He had just retired from his fourth round match against Carlos Alcaraz after fighting through pain to win three consecutive five-setters despite feeling ‘awful about his game’.

But after a few weeks’ break he has returned with a vengeance, making the final in Doha and now surging through in California without dropping a set. Excluding his US Open semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner, Draper has now won 21 consecutive sets across the pond.

‘At the start of the year I was struggling a bit, but my body feels good now,’ he said. ‘I feel really strong in every area of my game.’

British No 1 Jack Draper has reached the Paribas Open quarter-finals after showcasing one of the best displays of his career

The 23-year-old delivered an impressive straight-sets victory against the home favourite Taylor Fritz

Draper is set to face another American star, Ben Shelton, in the early hours of March 14

The British No 1 said last week he was still finding his way on serve in these slow, high-bouncing conditions. Well, against Fritz he won 91 per cent of first serve points and an exceptional run of three breaks in a row at the end of the first and beginning of the second set took the match away.

‘In the previous matches against Taylor I’ve felt like the one defending a lot of the time,’ said Draper. ‘Today I played really aggressive tennis and I’m proud of my performance.

‘I served great today and that put a lot of pressure on him. Returned well, as well. Everything was clicking today.’

As Draper continues to synthesise the scrappy, counter-punching style he favoured in his early years with a more muscular attacking game he has become an extremely tough nut to crack. He has lost just three matches since October – winning 17 – and all three defeats were to top-10 players.

Some defend better, some attack better – but how many players can exceed Draper on both axes? Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can but I am not sure there is anyone else.

Next Draper faces a man one year in age and one spot in the live rankings behind him. Shelton is a fellow lefty and possesses the most lethal serve in the world.

‘Ben is a very high-energy player,’ said Draper. ‘He competes great. Obviously serves… I saw him play last night and it was like 150 miles an hour. I don’t think I can do that!

‘A lefty like myself, coming up, wants to get inside that top 10. I’m looking forward to that matchup. We haven’t played each other so it will be a lot of fun.’

There has not been a southpaw in the top 10 since Rafael Nadal. With Draper and Shelton rapping on the door with their left fists, that will not be the case for much longer.