Jack Draper, Stan Wawrinka seal second round spots in Indian Wells

Jack Draper prevailed at the Indian Wells Open on Thursday when he defeated Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-1, 6-1 to move to the verge of the top 50 in the ATP Rankings.

The 21-year-old, who was playing in the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, dominated the 57-minute match, hitting 13 winners and making just four unforced errors.

In order to advance to the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the second time, Draper will next play fellow countryman Daniel Evans. Last year in Montreal, the British player made it to the quarterfinals but fell to Pablo Carreno Busta, who went on to win.

As a result of his victory over Riedi, who qualified for his ATP Masters 1000 debut and is now ranked No. 51 in the ATP Live Rankings, Draper has moved up five spaces to the 51st position. Following a solid start to the season that saw him get to the second round in Marseille, the 21-year-old Riedi sits seventh in the Next Gen ATP Race.

Meanwhile, 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.

Four years ago, the former World No. 3 Swiss lost to Roger Federer in the third round of play in the California desert. After one hour and 23 minutes, he beat Vukic by hitting 17 winners to overcome a second-set slump and secure his place in the second round.

Wawrinka will next face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, the 26th seed, after advancing to the quarterfinals in Rotterdam and Marseille. The 37-year-old, who is ranked No. 96 in the ATP Live Rankings, is competing in the hard-court tournament for the 12th time, with his best performance coming 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.

( With inputs from ANI )

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