Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper produced one of the rallies of the season during their gruelling Indian Wells Open clash and the 24-time Grand Slam winner believes that was a key factor to his defeat in the end.
Third seed Djokovic won the opening set via a single break in game 10 before Draper broke twice in the second set to take the fourth-round match to a decider.
And it was in the opening game of the third set with the score 30-30 on the Djokovic serve when they slugged it out for a 26-point rally that took a lot out of both players.
The former world No 1 won the point and, although the British player had a break point later in the game, the Serbian saved it and managed to hold serve to go 1-0 up, but he believes it cost him a game later.
After a comfortable hold from Draper, he broke to take a 1-2 lead and, although Djokovic managed to claim the break back later, the defending champion held his nerve during the tie-breaker to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
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Asked what made the difference in the end, he replied: “One point. Yeah, one point.”
The former Indian Wells champion then described THAT point, saying: “Yeah, I mean, it cost me a break after, you know. It was great winning that point in that game, but I just, like, ran completely out of gas and just started to feel a bit better towards basically end of the third.
“He played a sloppy game to close it out 5-4, and, you know, I got the crowd, you know, backing me, and I felt the energy. It was, like, maybe I’m gonna take this one.
“It was so close, so close. I mean, just unfortunate few mistakes from my side. Tiebreak, 4-3 up. 5-All, as well.
“That’s tennis.”
Djokovic was also full of praise for Draper, who is still nursing his way back after missing the latter half of the 2025 season due to an arm injury.
“I don’t think there is any major difference in his level from what he has, you know, shown pre-injury,” the 38-year-old said. “I mean, he’s been playing at a great level, actually. I have watched him a little bit, had some highlights in Dubai that he has played there a few matches.
“And here, obviously defending champion, he really likes the conditions, suiting his game, and you could see that. I mean, he’s playing really well. I mean, he’s confident and he was always confident and physically very fit.
“You know, just overall a great player, great guy. I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament.”
The post Indian Wells Open: Novak Djokovic highlights crucial moment that ‘cost’ him during Jack Draper defeat appeared first on Tennis365.
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