Jack Draper only the fifth British man to achieve ATP Masters 1000 milestone
Jack Draper has become only the fifth British man to reach the final of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, but he still has a long way to go if he is to catch up with the great Andy Murray.
The 23-year-old upset two-time Indian Wells Open defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the semi-final to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final.
Draper had previously reached the quarter-final of the 2022 Canadian Open as a qualifier while last year he fell at the same stage the Cincinnati Open.
But he has now gone two better in California as he beat Ben Shelton in the last eight before seeing off four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz in the last four.
With the win he became the fifth British man after Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Cameron Norrie to reach the final of an ATP Masters 1000 event. Those four have also managed to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.
=4. Jack Draper – 1 final
Draper, who has two titles to his name as he won the ATP 250 Stuttgart Open last June and followed it up with the ATP 500 Vienna Open, beat youngster Joao Fonseca in the second round, Jenson Brooksby in the third round, third seed Taylor Fritz in the fourth round.
He then claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory over fellow big server Shelton in the quarters before beating Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 in the semi-final.
Holger Rune stands between Draper and a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.
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=4. Cameron Norrie – 1 final
Norrie was the most recent British man to reach the final of a 1000 event and his magical run also came at Indian Wells where he went all the way as the 21st seed.
He is also the only Briton to win the title as he beat Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-final, Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final and Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final.
3. Greg Rusedski – 2 finals
1997 US Open runner-up Rusedski reached his maiden Masters final at the 1998 Indian Wells Open after beating Thomas Muster in the semi-final, but he came up short in the showpiece match as he lost 6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4 against Marcelo Rios.
A few months later he reached his second final as he beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semi-final of the Paris Masters to set up a showdown with top seed Pete Sampras.
The Briton upset the defending champion 6–4, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 to win his first and only ATP Masters 1000 title.
2. Tim Henman – 4 finals
Henman suffered two Masters 1000 finals defeats before he won his first title.
The Briton first upset Sampras en route to reaching the final of the 2000 Cincinnati Masters, but lost in straight sets against Thomas Enqvist. Two years later, he finished runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt at the Indian Wells Masters.
His third final came at the Paris Masters in 2003 and he got some notable scalps as he defeated third seed Roger Federer in the quarter-final and second seed Andy Roddick in the semi-final, and then beat the unseeded Andrei Pavel in the final.
The following year he reached the Indian Wells final again, but this time Roger Federer beat him in straight sets in the final.
1. Andy Murray – 21 finals
Murray won 14 of the 21 ATP Masters finals that he reached with the first title coming at the 2008 Cincinnati Open as he beat Novak Djokovic in the final. A few weeks later he won his second as he beat Federer in the semi-final of the Madrid Open and Gilles Simon in the final.
After losing the 2009 Indian Wells Open final against Rafael Nadal, Murray won his next six Masters 1000 finals as he lifted two Canadian Open titles, two in Shanghai, one in Miami and one in Cincinnati, beating Djokovic and Federer in four of the finals.
In 2015 he reached four finals, winning the Madrid Open and Canadian Open but losing in Miami and Paris.
The 2016 season was the best of Murray’s career as he reached five Masters finals, winning the Italian Open, Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters while he was runner-up in Madrid and Cincinnati.
In total he won 4 Shanghai titles, three in Canada, two in Cincinnati, two in Indian Wells and one each in Madrid, Rome and Paris.
