The men’s and women’s finals of the BNP Paribas Open will be played Sunday, with 12th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark battling 13th-seeded Jack Draper of Great Britain, and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus squaring off against ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia.
Draper upset second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on Saturday, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, while Rune scored his own upset, knocking off fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, 7-5, 6-4.
“To come through the match today, that means so much to me, especially against a player of Carlos’ caliber,” Draper said after beating Alcaraz, who has won four Grand Slam titles at the age of 21. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow already. That’s the thing with tennis. You’ve got to get over wins like today, and all my focus and energy is on making sure that I do all the right things to give myself the best chance to win the tournament tomorrow.”
Draper entered the tournament as the 14th-ranked player on the ATP Tour, but his success at Indian Wells means he’ll crack the top 10 on Monday.
Rune is ranked No. 13.
“I feel like I can play like this day in and day out,” he said after toppling Medvedev, who had lost in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open the previous two years. “I’m not closing my eyes and hitting the lines on every shot like you can maybe do once per year. I feel like I’m definitely building the points, mixing up the tempo, grinding, finding solutions when they’re tough. I really try to focus on what I can control, and I try to find a way to win really.”
The men’s final is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Sabalenka, who lost the 2023 finals at Indian Wells to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, has yet to lose a set in the tournament. She crushed American Madison Keys, who had a 16-match winning streak, 6-0, 6-1 on Friday.
Andreeva earned her spot in the finals by defeating defending BNP Paribas Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 on Friday. She has lost to Sabalenka twice this year.
“I’m gonna try to take a revenge, because I still have nothing to lose, and I feel like the match is going to be probably entertaining,” Andreeva said.
The women’s final is scheduled for 11 a.m. More information can be found at bnpparibasopen.com.