Draper overcomes poor start to beat Brooksby as Kartal and Gauff progress

British No 1 Jack Draper moved into the last 16 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells thanks to a straight-sets victory over Jenson Brooksby.

After going 3-0 down in the opening set, Draper clawed his way back into the match in impressive style as he wrapped up a 7-5 6-4 victory over the American, who is making a comeback this year after a prolonged hiatus.

Draper will now face American third seed Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.

“I felt confident. Brooksby is someone who makes life very difficult for players and I didn’t really know what to expect. He hasn’t played for a while, I haven’t seen him play,” Draper said on Sky Sports Tennis.

“It wasn’t the cleanest performance from my side. I have a lot that I can improve on and a lot of chances that I missed, but that’s tennis, you can’t play your best the whole time, and I’m glad with the way I stayed calm and kept going to get the win in the end.”

Trailing 4-2 and on the Brooksby serve, Draper threw his racket to the floor but followed his outburst by winning the next three points as he fought his way back into the match.

The victory continued another promising campaign for Draper, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the final in Doha, where he was beaten by Andrey Rublev.

“I’ve played him twice and both times it went my way,” Draper added.

“He’s a fighter and competitor and I knew he would want his revenge and I’m glad that I was able to fend him off and come through.

“I feel physically good, mentally good. We’ve seen a lot of top players go out early this week because conditions are so difficult. Sometimes you just have to accept it won’t be your best tennis and a lot of that is how I’m feeling.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball well but sometimes it’s not coming off the racket the way I want it to. I accept that and hopefully in the next round I can get things a bit better.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Murray made history by becoming the first Briton, and only the second currently active player, to play 1,000 career doubles matches.

The 39-year-old marked the occasion in style as he and partner Adam Pavlasek defeated Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway in a tie-break set.

Murray, who played his first ATP Tour doubles match alongside brother Andy in Nottingham 19 years ago, said: “It is something I’m proud of and I think it shows longevity, being able to play on the Tour for that long and still be going.”

Kartal continues winning run with straight-sets win

British lucky loser Sonay Kartal continued her winning run at Indian Wells with a straight-sets victory over Polina Kudermetova to reach the fourth round.

Kartal, who revealed she had changed hotels as she did not expect to still be playing at the tournament, beat Kudermetova 7-5 6-3.

It is the first time the 23-year-old has reached the fourth round of a WTA 1000 event after she earned her spot in the main draw following the withdrawal of Sloane Stephens.

Kartal’s victory means she will meet world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff dismisses Sakkari in straight sets

Coco Gauff made it through to the round of 16 with a straight-sets victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari, defeating her 7-6(1) 6-2 on Monday.

The former US Open champion fell behind 2-1 before breaking back to level at two-all in the opening set, and then pulling ahead 5-4, with Sakkari forced to serve to stay in the set.

Gauff then continued to roll ahead, taking the tie-break 7-1 as well as the opening set.

The 20-year-old took this momentum into the second set, leading 5-2, but Sakkari fought off three match points before eventually failing to convert two break points.

The No 3 seed will face Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

American Madison Keys, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, beat No 28 seed Elise Mertens 6-2 6-7 (8) 6-4 to book her place in the last 16.

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