British number one Jack Draper pulled off a stunning 6-4 6-0 win over Brazil’s rising star Joao Fonseca to coast into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Fonseca, 18, had seen off Jacob Fearnley in his first-round match, but came up second best against Draper, who won nine straight games to put the seal on an impressive performance at Indian Wells.
After gaining an early break in the third game of the opening set, Draper, 23, was then unable to hold putting the match quickly back on serve.
There was little between the pair until the ninth game when world number 14 Draper forced home another break opportunity, leaving him serving for the set.
Draper then had to save three break points before finally taking a second set-point chance when Fonseca’s return was wide.
The British number one maintained momentum during the early exchanges of the second set, breaking in the first game after coming to the net to dispatch a volley following his fine passing shot down the line.
A hold to love put Draper in control, before Fonseca sent a sliced cross-court backhand wide to fall further behind following another break
It remained one-way traffic as Draper held for a 4-0 lead and then had two break points on Fonseca’s next service game, taking the first after another wayward return from the back of the court was sent into the air and long by the Brazilian.
After firing down an ace on the opening point in the sixth game, Draper then served three double faults to give Fonseca a chance to break back.
Draper, though, saved them both, the second with another booming serve out wide, before forcing two match points, taking the second when Fonseca’s return was wide.
Next up for Draper will be American Jenson Brooksby, who pulled off a shock 6-4 6-2 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, the world number 18.
Draper felt the match was closer than the scoreline suggested, with Fonseca having plenty of support in the stands.
“Obviously Joao’s got a lot of eyeballs on him, a young player coming through, causing a lot of noise. I was expecting a really tough match and it was,” the British number one said at a press conference.
“I am just very proud of my performance and happy with the way I dealt with the situation and the occasion, the crowd and everything.”
A hip problem saw Draper have to retire from his fourth round match at the Australian Open against Carlos Alcaraz.
Having finished runner-up in Doha, the 23-year-old could close in on the world’s top 10 with a strong run in Indian Wells, which is only his third event of the year.
Draper said: “The main thing I want to do is when I am playing I want to go out there and get it right and compete harder, and hopefully go deep in these tournaments now.”
