Jack Draper sets up Novak Djokovic clash with Indian Wells win

Cerundolo’s forehand has cultivated an almost mythical reputation on the ATP Tour and the 27-year-old Argentinian holds a number of notable wins over top-ten players — not least Jannik Sinner — but Draper refused to allow him any rhythm in the Californian desert, breaking three times in a 32-minute first set.

That was in delightfully stark contrast to Draper’s early sluggishness against the Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in the first match of his title defence, but he could not maintain the same level in the second set as lapses in concentration and a dip in his first-serve accuracy allowed an error-strewn Cerundolo to claw his way back into the match.

The pair traded two breaks each but Draper’s serve rescued him when facing two more break points at 5-5 before Cerundolo crumbled again as his revered forehand wilted repeatedly under pressure — as it had done all match.

The second-set blip may have shown that Draper is still short of match practice — this was the first time he has won back-to-back matches since Queen’s last summer — but there was enough encouragement to show he can still present a serious threat to Djokovic, four years after the pair’s first and only meeting on Draper’s Wimbledon main-draw debut in 2021.

“I’m my biggest critic so it’s difficult,” Draper told Sky Sports. “It was difficult conditions, the ball was swirling around a little bit, and I played a good first set. I came out stronger, I felt like I was hitting the ball better than I have in a long time, but I was definitely ropey in the second set.”

On facing Djokovic, he added: “The tennis is one thing but obviously the person, the player I’ve been watching since I was a young boy [has an aura]. He’s the greatest player of all time, he’s shown year in, year out he’s the biggest champ of them all. You know he’s going to make it an incredibly tough match and I’m going to have to be ready for that and compete hard.”

Norrie can still replace Draper as the British No1 if he advances one round further this week and he was at his battling best in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over De Minaur. Like Draper, the 30-year-old claimed the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells, in 2021, and he will now face either the tenth seed, Alexander Bublik, or the Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata.

If he can navigate that hurdle, Carlos Alcaraz, whom Norrie stunned on a hard court in their most recent meeting at the Paris Masters in October, is likely to await in the quarter-finals.

Often an unsung hero of British tennis, with the inescapable shadow of Sir Andy Murray quickly replaced by Draper’s rapidly rising star, Norrie has always been content to quietly go about his business. A supporting cast from Texas Christian University, where he studied from 2014 to 2017, made their presence felt on this occasion, and a formidable display gave them plenty to cheer. Norrie served well, came into the net fantastically and remained the aggressor throughout, always attempting to finish points early against one of the fittest players on the tour.

After breaking De Minaur’s serve, the decisive stage in the match came when Norrie attempted to close out the first set at 5-4. A brilliant forehand, cross-court, passing shot by De Minaur set up two break points, but the Australian then missed a wide-open forehand to spurn the second of those opportunities.

Norrie seized on a fortunate net cord to hold and De Minaur allowed his frustration to bleed into his opening service game in the second set as sloppy errors and a double fault handed over the break all too easily.

Although De Minaur did eventually stage a valiant fightback, finally breaking Norrie’s serve before getting the better of a magnificent 28-shot rally to apply further pressure at 5-4, Norrie remained as dogged as ever to close out a great victory.

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