Novak Djokovic sends classy message to Jack Draper

Novak Djokovic has sent a classy message to Jack Draper after the Briton defeated him in the fourth round to end his Indian Wells journey.

The defending champion recovered from losing the opening set to claim a hard-fought 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 (7–5) victory in what he described as a “real physical battle”.

After the match, Djokovic took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote a message, in which he showed respect to Draper and praised him.

“A tough night in the desert,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion wrote.

“Respect to @jackdraper, you deserve it. Great to see you back on court fighting fit. Keep it going.

“And to everyone who supported me here this week, thank you for the energy. No place like tennis paradise. See you soon.”

The win marks one of the biggest moments of Draper’s season as he continues his return from eight months disrupted by an arm injury.

In his post-match press conference, Novak Djokovic said that he had a “bitter feeling” when asked to assess his Indian Wells performance.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, bitter feeling right now, losing a match like this,” said the 38-year-old.

“But proud of myself for fighting and really giving it all on the court. That’s for sure. That’s the one thing that I’ll take as a highlight, you know, just the fact of not giving up and trying.

“I mean, obviously I lost to a great player, and it was really such an even match throughout the entire two-and-a-half hours. But, yeah, just a bit disappointed, of course, with getting off the court, fresh off the court. It is okay. I mean, I wish I could have done better, but it was a good fight.”