{"id":1818017,"date":"2026-03-10T15:30:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818017"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:30:34","slug":"indian-wells-open-what-novak-djokovic-and-jack-draper-said-ahead-of-blockbuster-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818017","title":{"rendered":"Indian Wells Open: What Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper said ahead of blockbuster clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Indian Wells Open: What Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper said ahead of blockbuster clash<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"10 Mar 2026 3:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"10 Mar 2026 3:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1773156634\"><br \/>\n                            10 Mar 2026 3:30 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Indian Wells Open: What Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper said ahead of blockbuster clash\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Novak-Djokovic-Jack-Draper-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper in Indian Wells\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper have shared their thoughts ahead of their blockbuster fourth round showdown at the 2026 Indian Wells Open.<\/p>\n<p>A potential last 16 clash between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jack-draper\">Draper<\/a> drew the attention of fans and analysts when the Indian Wells draw was made, and it became a reality after both men won their third round matches on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>It will be only the second-ever meeting between the pair after Djokovic won their first round match at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships in four sets.<\/p>\n<p>World No 14 Draper is the reigning Indian Wells champion, while third-ranked Djokovic is a five-time winner of the prestigious event.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Tennis Channel after his third round win over Aleksandar Kovacevic, Djokovic looked ahead to his match with Draper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to manage my body and my mental state on a daily basis so that I can be peaking as much as I possibly can on a given day,\u201d said the 38-year-old Serbian.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen of course, there\u2019s a challenge and an obstacle across the net, whoever you get to play, and it\u2019s not gonna get easier from here.<\/p>\n<h2>Indian Wells News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-jack-draper-indian-wells-clash\"><strong>Why Novak Djokovic\u2019s next match at Indian Wells will provide a big pointer for both players<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-tribute-message-gael-monfils-indian-wells-farewell\"><strong>Novak Djokovic pays tribute to retiring Gael Monfils after Frenchman\u2019s Indian Wells farewell<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe opponents are only gonna get tougher, and Jack Draper is next, who is defending champ and playing on a really high level again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I love the challenge, that\u2019s one of the biggest reasons why I\u2019m still here and competing with these young guys \u2014 is because I really wanna see how they beat me, if they can. And that kind of drives me every day to get better, to really prove to myself and others that I can still play on a highest level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndian Wells is a tournament that I really always enjoyed playing and it\u2019s a favourite tournament on the tour for so many players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On his win against Kovacevic, Djokovic added:\u00a0\u201cAnother physical battle, but obviously against an opponent that was playing on a high level, so I\u2019m glad to overcome it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I play better? Yes. I\u2019m very self-critical, but I\u2019m just glad to win two matches in a row in Indian Wells in last whatever years (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following his third round victory over Francisco Cerundolo, Draper expressed the respect he has for Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t really seen much of him play here, but I know what to expect from Novak. I have been watching him since I was young,\u201d said the 24-year-old Brit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s obviously, I think, the greatest tennis player of all time \u2014 my opinion. His mentality and just his level of tennis is always incredibly high.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to have to play really well and take my chances, but more than anything, just very grateful to not only be out here, but to be having the opportunity to play against these guys, and keep on improving my level and giving myself another chance to compete on the stages I want to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\/indian-wells-open-novak-djokovic-makes-odd-admission-struggling-last-couple-of-weeks\">Novak Djokovic makes \u2018odd\u2019 admission saying he has been struggling \u2018the last couple of weeks\u2019<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian Wells Open: What Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper said ahead of blockbuster clash Ewan West 10 Mar 2026 3:30 PM Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper have shared their thoughts ahead of their blockbuster fourth round showdown at the 2026 Indian Wells Open. A potential last 16 clash between Djokovic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1818017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1818017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1818017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1818017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1818017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}