A ruthless Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after Jack Draper retired after losing the first two sets.
The Spaniard was in ruthless form from the first game as he created break points on Draper’s first three service games.
Draper, who had played three consecutive five set matches, started the match energetically and went toe-to-toe with Alcaraz from the baseline.
The British number one saved multiple break points and created some break points of his own as he put Alcaraz under pressure.
However the Spaniard saved two break points to hold and take a 3-2 lead before producing the inevitable break of serve to take a 4-2 lead.
The Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion’s mix of power and variety was on full display as he was seemingly cruising towards the opening set.
There would be a plot twist though as Draper took advantage of some costly errors from Alcaraz with the Spaniard producing a couple of double faults.
At the change of ends Alcaraz berated the umpire over a time violation warning and used that as motivation as he was in clinical form to break for the set at 7-5.
After the opening set Draper had an off-court medical time-out and would soon return unable to move comfortably.
A quick 3-0 lead was gained as Draper was barely surviving and briefly fended off a double break deficit.
However Alcaraz would eventually get his second break of the set and cruise to a two set lead. That would lead to the end of the match as Draper retired from the match, securing Alcaraz’s place in the last eight.
After the match Alcaraz had kind words to say about Draper and wished him a speedy recovery, “It’s not the way I want to win the match to get through to the next round,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.
“I’m just happy to play in another quarter-final in Australia but a little bit sad for Jack, he’s a nice person. He doesn’t deserve to get injured. He couldn’t prepare the start of the season well because of an injury as well.
“We should have done a good week of preseason [together], but we couldn’t because of an injury as well. I’m just a little bit sad for him but I’m sure he’s going to come back stronger and I want to wish him a speedy recovery.”
The win means Alcaraz has now reached a tenth Grand Slam quarter-final and will face Novak Djokovic or Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday.
