World number three Carlos Alcaraz surged past fifth seed Jack Draper to make it through his first semifinal at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday in Rome.
The first quarterfinal of the day at the Foro Italico saw third seed Carlos Alcaraz taking a 6-4, 6-4 win over world No. 6 Jack Draper in a high-quality one-hour, 38-minute contest to achieve the last four at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.
In his on-court interview, he commented: “The most important thing that I did today was not thinking about the shots at all; not thinking about the fact that I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy.
“On court, I just tried to be aggressive, play good shots, drop shots, go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today.”
The Match as It Happened
Small margins separated the players throughout the first set until the No. 1 British player, who has improved his game on the clay court surface significantly this season, took the first break of the match as Alcaraz double-faulted.
The Spaniard responded quickly as he upped his aggression to break straight back and held to even the opener 4-4.
An erratic display, misfiring with his forehand, cost the fifth seed a double break, handing the 22-year-old the gift of serving out the opening set 6-4 in 42 minutes.
The Murcia-born, who fended off break points in the 10th game, damaged Draper with his backhand while generating his trademark drop shots with accuracy to seize the moment, securing the early lead.
Moreover, Alcaraz’s performance on the return made a huge difference, recording a return rate of 250 compared to his opponent’s 118.
The world number six dropped his serve early in the second set, showing signs of frustration under heavy pressure.
Then, they rallied across a lengthy second game, in which Draper was tested but managed to emerge on top, reading his rival better to convert the break and holding 2-1.
At that point, the Monte-Carlo champion had already fired 11 winners from his forehand to the Briton’s only one.
Both players came through three-set grueling matchups, spending over two hours on court each to earn their quarterfinal tickets at the Foro Italico.
Momentum shifted as the Indian Wells winner held onto his advantage, as the third seed became more erratic, hitting over twice as many errors as the Sutton native throughout seven games.
However, following a dramatic 10-minute eighth game, Alcaraz dug deep, saving two break points to hold his ground.
Such a physical and mentally demanding battle seemed to have taken a toll on the 23-year-old, who let slip a critical ninth game as Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil converted a double break to then serve out for the set 6-4, and the match, progressing into his 11th Masters 1000 semifinal on tour.
The four-time Grand Slam champion struck 24 winners against 29 unforced errors compared to the Madrid runner-up, 8 and 17, respectively.
Furthermore, he dominated at the net, winning 15 of 19 approaches, converting all four break-point opportunities, and winning 61 percent of the points on his first serve.
“I’m just excited to keep it going and try to compete as well as I can,” Alcaraz added. “I’m just happy to feel the good rhythm, feel the good tennis again here in Rome, and obviously, this match has given me a lot of confidence.”
Earlier, sixth seed Casper Ruud beat Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight. The round of 16 match was suspended on Tuesday due to the heavy rain.
Norway’s top racket has set a meeting with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who leads the Madrid Open champion 3-0 in their series.
Later in the day, eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti will square off against the defending champion, Alexander Zverev. One of them will face Alcaraz on Friday.
