Defending champion Jack Draper ready to ramp up return at Indian Wells

[p]England's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/draper-jack/SWxNhpmK/"]Draper[/a] halted [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a]'s bid for a rare Indian Wells three-peat when he stunned the Spaniard in the semi-finals last year, then beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rune-holger/2kRS8swG/"]Holger Rune[/a] in the final.[/p][p]The victory launched his rise to fourth in the world, but the oft-injured 24-year-old soon found himself hindered by elbow pain and after a short break followed by an abortive bid to play the US Open Draper shut down his 2025 campaign.[/p][p]He skipped the Australian Open, returning to competition in a Davis Cup qualifier followed by a first-round victory in Dubai in February.[/p][embed guid="34b6d684-6514-4cf5-a985-7eabc013a8a3" url="https://x.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/2027916911301009792" social-type="twitter" /][p]Now, Draper says, he's fit enough to go the distance in the tournament that started Wednesday, although with his lack of match play he knows a repeat would be a big ask.[/p][p][b]"I wouldn't be here, wouldn't be in the tournament if I didn't feel like I could go all the way again," [/b]Draper said.[/p][p][b]"That was probably the primary reason I didn't go out to Australia, just purely because if I'm going to enter a tournament, I'm going to be in the event, I want to feel like I can be physically ready to not just take part but to go all the way," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"I believe in my tennis so much that when I get out there, I know that I can play some great stuff. 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."[/b][/p][p]Draper, now ranked 14th in the world, will launch his defence against either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marozsan-fabian/I1mux0lj/"]Fabian Marozsan[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bautista-agut-roberto/riOJC5jb/"]Roberto Bautista Agut[/a] on Saturday, with Serbian superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/djokovic-novak/AZg49Et9/"]Novak Djokovic[/a] a possible quarter-final foe.[/p][p][b]"My main priority is looking after my body, making sure that when I'm able to hit the match court that I'm fully prepared for what's to come," [/b]Draper said, adding that his previous injury setbacks had helped him manage his latest.[/p][p][b]"I know from some of the injuries I have had in the past, I have made mistakes coming back too early, and I think when you do come back too early, you can lose a lot of trust in your body," [/b]he said.[/p][p]Draper said that wasn't an issue since he'd been able to practice during much of his layoff.[/p][p][b]"I don't have any fear around my arm," [/b]he said.[/p]