Both ranked outside the Top 10 at the start of Indian Wells, Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva claimed the singles titles Sunday in Tennis Paradise, each capping a scintillating run through a gauntlet of top talent.
Draper's path to his first ATP Masters 1000 crown went through 2022 champ Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz before a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory against Holger Rune in the final. The 23-year-old Briton was rewarded Monday for his efforts with his Top 10 debut at world No. 7.
The 17-year-old Andreeva won her second consecutive WTA 1000 trophy by beating 2023 winner Elena Rybakina, defending titlist Iga Swiatek and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, whom she defeated, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the final. Having made a brief Top 10 debut after winning the Dubai WTA 1000 last month, Andreeva is now back in that elite group at a career-high of world No. 6.
"I would again like to thank myself for fighting until the end and for always believing in me and for never quitting," Andreeva said after beating Sabalenka, repeating her comments from the Dubai trophy ceremony. "I tried to run like a rabbit today. It was really hard to just keep up, so I just tried my best and that's why I would thank myself, because I think I played a little part also."
Now on a 12-match winning streak, Andreeva is the youngest player in the past 40 years to beat the No. 1 and No. 2 (Swiatek) players in the world at the same WTA event. She is also the third-youngest Indian Wells champion after Martina Hingis in 1998 and Serena Williams in 1999, and the first teenager to win the title since Bianca Andreescu in 2019. Andreescu went on to win the US Open in her New York main-draw debut that same year.
Andreeva has competed twice at the US Open, bowing out in the second round each of the past two years. Her best Grand Slam result is a semifinal showing last year at Roland Garros
Draper, who reached the semifinals at last year's US Open, claimed the third and biggest title of his career in Indian Wells. After denying Alcaraz a three-peat with a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 semifinal win, he did not face a break point in an emphatic final victory over Rune.
"It's incredible. I wasn't expecting this," Draper said after winning his first outdoor hard-court title. "I've put in a lot of work over time and I'm just so grateful and so happy to be out here to be able to play, my body being healthy, to feel great in my mind. All the work I've done over the last few years feels like it's coming together on the big stage and I can't put that into words."
Having struggled with various injuries throughout his career, the Briton was competing in just his third event of 2025. A hip injury forced him to retire from his fourth-round match against Alcaraz at the Australian Open in January, and he returned in February to reach the final in Doha.
After his 2024 US Open semifinal defeat to eventual champion Jannik Sinner, Draper said he felt his time would come on the big stage.
"I think I just need to keep on learning, keep on growing, keep on having situations like today. ‘How am I going to do it differently next time?’ and all these types of things," he said in New York. "The biggest thing I think is, honestly, just a matter of time. It's [having] experiences, it's training consistently and over time you just progress and get stronger and better."
On Sunday, he earned his moment in the sun on the opposite U.S. coast. He will now head east to Miami with a 13-2 record on the season.
