The 23-year-old Draper has suffered a lingering hip issue this year but looked fine as he zipped around the court with ease on Sunday, firing 21 winners to cap a superb week in the California desert.

Playing in his fourth Masters 1000 final, Rune had the benefit of experience but could never find his rhythm as he made seven winners against 18 unforced errors.

"I lost first round here last year so I didn't get to experience the tournament too much," Draper said. "I would say this is one of my favorite tournaments now."

Playing in his first 1000-level final, Draper bludgeoned his opponent with seven aces in the first set, having hit a forehand winner to break in the first game and outfoxed Rune at the net in the third to go up another break.

The Dane's frustrations boiled over early in the second set, where he shouted at his team before dropping serve in the first game. He handed Draper another break in the penultimate game with a backhand shot that he sent wide.

Draper fired a booming forehand shot on match point and smiled towards the stands before kneeling on court with his fists thrust into the air in celebration, clinching it in just one hour and nine minutes.

"Before the match, you know, you're thinking of all kinds of scenarios in your head, a lot of doubts," he said.

"And just what makes it even better is that, you know, just getting through those doubts and being able to play the final the way I did."

Rune made no excuses for his performance, telling the crowd: "It never feels nice not to be able to step over the line, but that's life sometimes."

Draper did not have an easy path to the final, having to beat 2022 winner Taylor Fritz in the last 16, and had to contain his nerves after beating back-to-back defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals on Saturday night.

"I felt a bit fatigued this morning from all of the emotions of yesterday. But I'm in a final, I have worked so hard to get here," he said after the match. "There is no time to be tired. I've got to go out and go for it on every ball.

"And no matter how I'm feeling, just put my head down and fight for everything."

He is the first Briton to win the title since Cameron Norrie in 2021 and will be ranked seventh now, after reaching the US Open semifinal last year.

"I have put in a lot of work over time and I'm so grateful to be out here, with my body healthy and feeling great in the mind," Draper, who lost in last month's Doha final, told Sky Sports.

"It feels like it is all coming together on the big stage."

Source: China Daily by Reuters   Published: 20:31, March 16, 2025

The 17-year-old Andreeva, the youngest women's champion at the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999, found her form midway through the match and crumpled to the ground in celebration after closing it out with a forehand winner.

Top seed Sabalenka pulled herself out of a slump to bring some of her best tennis to the California desert this year and got off to a hot start on Sunday but her form unravelled as the match wore on and she was left to rue missed opportunities.

"I would like to thank myself for fighting until the end and for always believing in me and for never quitting," Andreeva said at the trophy ceremony.

"I was running like a rabbit today because Aryna, she's been sending bullets and it was really hard to just keep up."

Andreeva had lost to Sabalenka twice this year and it looked as though the pattern would continue as the top-seeded Belarusian mixed some nifty drop shots with her usual forehand power to save four break points in the third game.

Sabalenka sent a backhand winner down the line to break in the fourth game and four games later a visibly frustrated Andreeva whacked a ball into the stands after sending a shot into the net as the Russian was broken again.

The teenager got a confidence boost in the second set, however, when she broke Sabalenka with a forehand winner in the third game and fended off two break points in the sixth.

After trading breaks to open the third set, Sabalenka's errors began to pile up and she fired into the net on break point in the third game to give the ninth seed the advantage.

'More aggressive'

"After the first set, I just realized, that, 'oh, well, what I do now, it doesn't work, so I have to change something'," Andreeva told reporters.

"In the second set, I tried to play a little bit more aggressive. I didn't try to over hit her, because I don't think anyone can over hit Aryna, because she's super-powerful player.

"I tried to really, I don't know, create something to make her uncomfortable, and, you know, point-by-point, game-by-game, I managed to do that."

Gracious in defeat, 2023 runner-up Sabalenka brought her trademark sense of humor to the trophy ceremony, while holding onto the petite consolation prize.

"I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this place. I'll just put this trophy on top of another one and pretend it's the trophy for the winning," said Sabalenka.

"It's going to be a quite similar size, you know?"

The win on Sunday sees Andreeva continue her meteoric rise, after she partnered with coach Conchita Martinez a year ago, as she recorded her fifth straight win over a top-10 player.

Former world number two Martinez guided Andreeva into the French Open semifinals last year and helped steer her into the world's top 10 with her triumph in Dubai last month.

Andreeva, who downed twice champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, heaped praise on her team in her victory speech and later told reporters they were "super protective" of her.

"(Martinez) gives me advice, you know, how to play and also how to maybe not to spend too much time on-site or how not to waste your energy," she said. "Because I have such a good team around me, they help to protect me."

Source: China Daily by Reuters  Published: 20:36, March 16, 2025

Draper beat the world number three at Queen's Club last year and had the winning formula again this time around, as the lefty relied on his lethal forehand to reach his first Masters 1000-level final, where he will face Denmark's Holger Rune.

"It was a strange match. You know, honestly Carlos came out, he was a bit flat, I sensed that," Draper said in televised remarks.

"Against top players in the world, they can change their momentum very quickly so I just got lost out there for 25 minutes and then in the third, I came out, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and somehow managed to get over the line there in the end."

Alcaraz had not dropped a set en route to the semifinal but gifted Draper a break with a double fault in the second game as he struggled to find his rhythm. The 13th seed converted on another break with a fine forehand winner in the sixth.

But the momentum flipped entirely in the second set, where Draper put up 15 unforced errors compared to just two in the first, as Alcaraz hit his stride and neutralized the only break point he faced in the first game.

"It kind of happened to me (in the second set) what happened to him in the first set. I got tired, I got low energy," said Draper.

Alcaraz closed out the set with a superb backhand winner and looked as though he would roll through the third with the crowd on his side.

But Draper, who retired due to injury in their last meeting at the Australian Open this year, was ready to go the distance this time around and made a perfect shot down the line past Alcaraz to convert on break point in the third game.

Draper sent an un-returnable backhand shot into the corner to go up another break in the seventh and was glad for the insurance as Alcaraz broke back in the next game.

The Briton closed it out with un-returnable serve, ending Alcaraz's 16-match win streak at Indian Wells, and whacked a ball deep into the stands in celebration.

With the win, Draper will move into the top 10 for the first time in his career and would be ranked as high as seventh if he can take the title on Sunday.

He will face an in-form Rune, who beat the Russian Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-4 after losing his last seven semifinal matches.

Rune, the number 12 seed, lost to Medvedev in the quarterfinals a year ago and the two were evenly matched in a grueling opening set in which they traded early breaks and Rune battled through a marathon six-deuce eighth game to hold his serve.

Medvedev helped him to a break point with a fluffed shot at the net in the 11th game and the 21-year-old Dane carried the momentum into the second set, breaking the former U.S. Open champion to love in the third game.

Down 0-30 in the final game, Rune clawed his way back and forced a fatigued Medvedev into an error at the end of a 37-shot rally on the penultimate point before clinching victory with a powerful forehand winner.

"He's a very difficult player to play. He makes you play uncomfortable shots," said Rune.

"I tried to play as good as possible, making it difficult for him, trying to, you know, play different kind of shots to mix up the rhythm in the game.

"I think I did it well. I stayed very patient, very composed mentally. I'm very happy to get through."

Rune beat Draper in their only previous meeting in Cincinnati last year. The Dane has more experience with three previous Masters 1000-level finals under his belt but said he expects an exciting fight for the trophy.

"He's gained a lot of confidence. He's been improving. He's a lefty. Great serve. I think he's been serving well this tournament. Yeah, he's gonna be excited," said Rune.

Source: China Daily by Reuters  Published: 18:49, March 15, 2025

The 20-year-old revealed that the surgery aimed to address an injury sustained during this year's Australian Open. "After the Australian Open, my foot started causing issues. Over the past few weeks, my team and I consulted extensively with medical experts and decided to proceed with a minor procedure. The good news is the surgery went smoothly. I can't wait to get back on the court," Shang wrote.

Shang had retired hurt in his Australian Open first round match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in January due to discomfort in his foot.  

Source: Xinhua  2025-03-13 10:29:15

World No. 9 Zheng struggled with unforced errors at key moments and converted just two of five break points as Swiatek prevailed in an hour and 35 minutes in a match that was interrupted by bad weather.

The result marked a reversal of the pair's semifinal meeting at the Paris Olympics last July, when Zheng beat the four-time French Open champion 6-2, 7-5 on her way to winning the gold medal.

Swiatek, who is vying for her third Indian Wells title, converted all five of her break point chances and won 74 percent of points on her first serve.

The 23-year-old raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set but Zheng rallied by breaking back and then holding serve.

Swiatek clinched the set in her next service game and then took a 4-0 lead in the second frame before surviving another revival by her 22-year-old opponent to secure a place in the last four of the WTA 1000 event.

"At the end it got really windy which made it super tricky especially when the conditions change during the match you need to adjust quickly and it's not that easy," Swiatek said in her on-court interview.

"I am happy that I was pushing until the end. It was a weird match with all the breaks and everything but I wanted to be composed and really focused and I'm glad that I did that."

Five-time grand slam winner Swiatek will face either Ukraine's Elina Svitolina or Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the semifinals.

Source: Xinhua  Published: 19:07, March 13, 2025