Indian Wells: Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie on battle for British number one ranking

Draper had been British number one since June 2024 when he took over from Norrie, who had held the position since October 2021 when he won Indian Wells.

The 24-year-old has only played two ranking tournaments since last August’s US Open, having returned from injury in February.

Before the injury, Draper was steadily building his way to the top of the game.

He reached the 2024 US Open semi-finals, won the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells six months later and reached as high as fourth in the world rankings in June.

The friendly British rivalry with Norrie could help to nudge him back towards the top 10.

“Cam is playing some great tennis,” Draper said.

“He’s been really consistent. I think it’s great for British tennis that he’s back playing really well – a former top-10 player who had a really tough injury with his forearm a couple of years ago.

“I’m really happy for him and his team and if we can keep on pushing each other to play well, that’s only a great thing.”

Rankings are calculated over a 12-month period, with players effectively defending points they won at the same tournament a year earlier.

Draper’s absence from the tour is the overriding reason why he has lost the British top spot, but Norrie has had an excellent run after falling outside the top 90 in April.

He reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July and beat world number one Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Masters in October.

“I was in a tough spot,” Norrie said. “Just a little bit too much expectation, but I let that go and enjoyed my tennis a bit more, and then suddenly I finished inside the top 30 at the end of last year.”