Draper, Wawrinka Seal Second Round Spots In Indian Wells

In a battle between two young guns on the ATP Tour, it was Jack Draper who prevailed at the BNP Paribas Open Thursday when he defeated #NextGenATP Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-1, 6-1 to move to the verge of the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The 21-year-old, who competed at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, was dominant throughout the 57-minute encounter, striking 13 winners and committing four unforced errors to earn victory on his tournament debut.

Draper will next face countryman Daniel Evans as he looks to reach the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time. The Briton advanced to the quarter-finals in Montreal last year, losing to eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta.

Draper is up five spots to No. 51 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his win against Riedi, who came through qualifying to make his ATP Masters 1000 debut. The 21-year-old Riedi is ninth in the Pepperstone Next Gen ATP Race following a strong start to the season which saw him reach the second round in Marseille.

Stan Wawrinka earned victory at the BNP Paribas Open for the first time since 2019 when he moved past Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 in Indian Wells.

The former World No. 3 Swiss last competed in the Californian desert four years ago, falling to Roger Federer in the third round. He ensured he made a winning return against Vukic, recovering from a second-set dip as he hit 17 winners to book his spot in the second round after one hour and 23 minutes.

Wawrinka, who arrived in Indian Wells off the back of quarter-final runs in Rotterdam and Marseille, will next play 26th-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. The 37-year-old, currently No. 96 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, is making his 12th appearance at the hard-court event, with his best result a run to the championship match in 2017.

In other action, American Mackenzie McDonald downed Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-0 to set a meeting against seventh-seeded Dane Holger Rune.