Photo credit: Rob Stone/@RobStoneTennis
By Alix Ramsay
It was Day Three of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Well, we think it was Day Three. We weren’t sure. We were jet lagged. What we did know was that main draw had finally started. We were officially underway even if nothing had actually happened yet.
At least we knew that Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov had made it back from the Dubai war zone and were now in the Californian desert. Not that the ATP would confirm or deny the news.
Quite what they stood to gain from failing to inform the world that three of their stars had moved heaven and earth (and a private jet) to get themselves to the self-styled “Fifth Slam”, the first of the ATP’s Masters 1000s in 2026, was anyone’s guess. Shhhhh, keep it quiet: that will help with ticket sales, news coverage and TV viewing figures. (Answers, please, on a postcard if understand this line of thinking.)
That said, our ATP Deep Throat did point us in the general direction of the player practice schedule. There, we were told, we would find the names of the three Russians. But, no, the ATP would not confirm or deny that the trio was here.
As our jet lagged brain tried to wade through the treacle of these random bits of information, we simply gave up. Bugger it: why try to write about the tennis? Go back to what you know: daftness and fluff. So we did.
As Yulia Putintseva and Paula Badosa were working up a sweat in the first match on Stadium 1, the international press corps was hard at work. With the sort of professionalism seldom seen these days in the media world, we journalists headed for the Porta Via restaurant overlooking the centre court, there to eat our way through a three-course lunch. And it was only 11.45am. This could be a big ask but, no matter: we were ready.
Photo credit: Rob Stone/@RobStoneTennis
This was the second edition of the Champions Luncheon (pedantic note: it was the tournament that dropped the necessary apostrophe, not your correspondent). Just as at the Masters in Augusta, this is a culinary celebration of the returning champions and those champions get to choose the menu. But that is where the similarities end.
In Augusta, last year’s winner hosts a room full of former champions. In Augusta, last year’s winner and all the other Green Jackets wolf down the specially created offerings on the champion’s menu.
In Indian Wells, Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva told the assembled throng of journos and snappers what they had chosen, told us all how nice it was to be back in the desert and then scarpered. Not a morsel passed their lips and there was not a sign of a champion from years gone by.
As an aside, Tommy Haas was there because, although his best result here was a quarter-final, he is now the tournament director. And he now has considerably more hair than when last we cast eyes on him – it has a sort of hand-knitted look to it, too. But never mind.
Anyway, the champions’ bit of the Champions Luncheon was all over in a matter of moments. Blink and you would have missed it.
But did we let that beat us? Did we heck as like. Living up to the hard-won reputation of our profession, we saw free food and we ate it. Every single crumb of it. From the jalapeno tuna rolls and veggie rolls to the salad, from the main course (of which more later) to the Syrniki (Farmer’s Cheese Pancakes) chosen by Andreeva, we munched our way through. This was eating on an epic scale.
But getting back to Draper: he was asked by the compère, Michelle Yu, what he had chosen for his dish. “Steak and chips,” he said, very matter-of-factly before fessing up that he probably should have chosen something else, given the sort of restaurant he was in. But he had been in a training block when he was asked to choose and was adhering to a strict diet at the time.
Yu tried to lighten the mood. Had not been training, would he have been more adventurous? What would he have chosen then? “What? If I wasn’t training, you mean?” “Yes.” “Steak and chips.” Yu threw in the towel and moved on to Andreeva (her choice was a traditional dish that her granny used to make it for her). Yu then beat a hasty retreat.
Draper hasn’t been having the best of luck with his decision making of late. He turned up in Dubai last week with an alarming buzzcut. He is a good-looking bloke, is Jack. But this new look ages him by a good 10 years. And that is the very best you can say about it. What on earth possessed him to go for it and would he be trying the look again anytime soon?
“There is nothing like a buzz cut. Honestly, you don’t have to do anything.” he said with a smile. And then he reverted to his serious face. “What inspired the haircut? I have just been out for a long period of time [he had a bone bruise on his serving elbow]. Eight months is difficult. Especially in an individual sport, you become quite isolated. There is a lot of difficult moments, and when you come out of that and you start to feel better within yourself, yeah, just fancied a fresh start.
“Not sure if it’s my best haircut or my best fashion choice, but something different I think is always good. I think I’ll return to it again, but maybe I’ll let it grow for now.”
The chances of him hanging around here long enough to see some evidence of growth are not great. Thanks to that arm injury, he has played just three matches since the first round of the US Open last year and now he has 1,000 ranking points to defend.
Currently ranked No.14, he could drop to No.30 or worse if he doesn’t get through his opening match against either Roberto Bautista Agut or Fabian Marozsan. He is scheduled to meet Novak Djokovic in the fourth round and not only does Novak’s hair grow more quickly than Jack’s, his recent form is as impressive as it is injury-free.
“At this point, truthfully, I’m just very grateful to be back on the court, to be back on the tour,” Draper said. “I’m feeling like I have improved a lot as a player over the last eight months, but I do recognise that I have been away from the game, and it is a bit of a step up in level to just come straight back to it after that amount of time out of the game. So let’s see what happens. I’m sort of not overthinking things too much.”
It was a good plan from our Jack, given that thinking and decision making have not been his strongest suits of late. But he really should have stayed for that plate of steak and chips – it was delicious.