"In my opinion, he’s the greatest player of all time" - Jack Draper offers highest praise available to Novak Djokovic ahead of Indian Wells showdown

Eight months out of the sport due to an arm injury, countless days and weeks pushing to return to the action, and finally, Jack Draper has a chance to prove himself to the world that he has what it takes to compete with the best players in the world. After picking up a 6-1, 7-5 win over Francisco Cerundolo, he will have the chance to face off against Novak Djokovic in the last-16 of Indian Wells, a player he has dubbed 'the greatest player of all time.'

Draper always had this tournament bookmarked amid his eventual return from a concerning arm injury picked up at Wimbledon last year. Before the campaign at SW19 which derailed his short term carere, the Brit was flying up the rankings at a fast pace. He won the Indian Wells title after taking down Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals before dishing out a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Holger Rune in the final to clinch a maiden Masters 1000 title. He almost made it two at the Madrid Open but was pipped by Casper Ruud. All of this saw him rise to a career-high fourth in the world.

That seems like a distant memory now, with the 23-year-old possibly leaving California, the British number two. That was not a thought on many people's minds after he broke into the top 10 in this specific tournament last year. The 1000 points coming off will see him drop to 28th in the world if results stay the same. If he is going to recoup more of his hard-earned points, then he has to win some more tennis matches, and that will not be an easy task.

"It's a really long time," Draper told Sky Sports, delighted to finally have a solid period back on the court. "In the last eight months, I've been really wanting to be back out on court, but I had to accept it was going to be a pretty long-term injury."

The return to tennis was delayed and delayed with countless setbacks halting his progress. He was meant to traverse Down Under to begin the year at the United Cup, even saying so in person. However, this did not come to fruition, and he was forced to wait until February, when he reappeared on a tennis court for Great Britain in the Davis Cup qualifier against Norway in Oslo.

He halted plans to play in Doha, forfeiting a number of points from his final run in the Qatar Open before making his ATP return in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He came unstuck against a very good Arthur Rinderknech before travelling out to the west coast in the hope of picking up some momentum.

"It's really good to get back in the feeling that I'm able to play back-to-back matches, because there was a point where if I played one practise session, I couldn't do another one," Draper admitted. "To be here, I'm just very grateful, regardless of the way I'm playing and my tennis."

Into a fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time since 2017, Novak Djokovic has not had the greatest time in this tournament in recent years. He had a minor blip in his third-round clash against Aleksandar Kovacevic, but was able to power through with a late break in the third.

This sets the five-time champion up to face the 2025 winner in a highly anticipated clash. The British number one was quick to share what he really thought of the 24-time Grand Slam champion. "I think the tennis is one thing, but the person, the player I’ve been watching since I was a young boy... in my opinion, he’s the greatest player of all time," Draper confirmed.

"He’s shown year in, year out that he’s the biggest champion of them all, so when you go up against him, you know he’s going to make it an incredibly tough match and play some crazy tennis."

The duo have met on the court once, coming back at Centre Court in Wimbledon in 2021. It was a hugely significant moment for a 19-year-old Draper who stormed out into a one-set lead over the two-time reigning champion. He only managed five games for the rest of the match, but he captured the British tennis fans' hearts with a brave showing and a glimpse of what was to come.