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After navigating a gauntlet of top talent to reach the BNP Paribas Open final, including wins against two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, Draper saved his most emphatic performance for last.

"It's incredible. I wasn't expecting this," Draper said. "I've put in a lot of work over time and I'm just so grateful and so happy to be out here to be able to play, my body being healthy, to feel great in my mind. 

"All the work I've done over the last few years feels like it's coming together on the big stage and I can't put that into words."

In addition to his third ATP Tour title and his first on outdoor hard courts, Draper will also be rewarded with his Top 10 debut. On Tuesday, he will rise seven places to No. 7 in the ATP Rankings.

"I feel like I deserve it, in all honestly," Draper said. "The amount of adversity I've been through, the amount of sacrifices, the amount of time that all the people around me have put into me and the hard work. 

"It's an emotional feeling to know how much you've gone through and put in, and to be here now to say that I'm going be No. 7 in the world tomorrow, I can't tell you how much that means to me."

Dictating play with precise serving and a heavy ground game, Draper kept Rune on the back foot throughout the final. The Briton's high-bouncing baseline strokes kept him in control of the rallies and allowed him to step into the court with repeated success.

The final was the first at ATP Masters 1000 level contested by two players born in the 2000s, and the first between players outside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings since World No. 26 Cameron Norrie beat No. 36 Nikoloz Basilashvili in the 2021 Indian Wells final. It was also the first Indian Wells final between players age 23 or younger since Rafael Nadal (22) beat Andy Murray (21) in 2009.

Draper lost just four points on serve in the opening set and held a break chance for a 5-0 lead. He broke again in the opening game of set two and eased through the finish line without facing a break point.

"I felt like I came out, I approached the game well. Yesterday I had a few ups and downs during the match, a bit of low energy against Carlos and I learned from that today," Draper said, referring to his 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 victory against Alcaraz. That middle set was the only one the Briton lost in six matches in Indian Wells.

"I knew that Holger was going to come out and be playing some really good tennis, so I needed to be aggressive and play to win from the first ball," he continued. "I did an amazing job of that and I didn't allow him to play, and I just felt like I dictated the match really well." 

By avenging his 2024 Cincinnati quarter-final defeat to Rune, Draper became the fifth British man to win an ATP Masters 1000 title. He joins Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Cameron Norrie in that illustrious group — with Norrie the only one to win at Indian Wells. All four of his fellow Britons also reached the Top 10 in their careers.

Rune, 21, was bidding for his fifth tour-level crown and second at the ATP Masters 1000s, having beaten Novak Djokovic in three sets to win the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters title. Denied a return to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since last April, the Dane will move up one place to World No. 12.