Is Novak Djokovic the best tennis player of all time?

At 38, he still plays like he is trying to prove it.

On Wednesday night inside a rocking Stadium 1, defending champion Jack Draper absorbed all of the five-time champion’s punches and threw a flurry of his own to rally past Djokovic in one of the matches of the tournament, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

Draper, now riding a nine-match winning streak in the California desert, will face two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in quarterfinal action on Thursday.

“He’s still one of the best players in the world,” Draper said. “He’s the greatest of all time, he’s an unbelievable competitor and an unbelievable professional, and he’s someone that we all, in the locker room and on the tour, admire and look up to.

“To beat him on this court is incredibly special.”

Trading sets

In an opening set that went with serve for the first nine games, it was 24-time major champion Djokovic who drew first blood, breaking for 6-4.

After a trade of breaks early in the second, it was Draper who took the initiative. A break to love in the ninth game set the table and gave the Brit a chance to serve for the set at 5-4.

He didn’t miss, and with the slate wiped clean, the best was yet to come in the decider.

An all-time Djokovic moment

The point of the match — and likely the tournament — occurred at 30-all in the first game of the decider.

Djokovic ran the length of the court three times and finally won the point with a drop shot that clipped the tape. Exhausted, he lay on his back near the service line for 30 seconds, soaking up the applause as a deafening roar shook the stadium.

It was the Djokovic of old, fighting through fatigue, dead set on another milestone win.

In many ways, given his recent injury history, it was also the Draper of old, playing punishing tennis and refusing to lose.

Exhibiting the same steely form that carried him to the title last year, Draper continued to apply pressure and scored a break for 2-1.

But the break disappeared when Draper failed to serve out the match, broken for 5-all.

“Biggest choke,” he said on court after the win. “I don’t know what the Twitter trolls will be saying about that one. It went so quickly.”

The two-hour, 35-minute test of wills finally came to an end two points later, with Draper holding steady from the baseline with the legend for two consecutive points to lock up the victory.

He stood at the baseline and soaked in the applause before heading to the net, where Djokovic was waiting. Asked what made the difference during his post-match press conference, the 38-year-old lamented: "One point."