Alcaraz Defeats Draper To Qualify For Italian Open Semi-Finals

Carlos Alcaraz continued his impressive run at the Italian Open to brush aside Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals in Rome on Wednesday.

The four-time major champion dominated the encounter to earn a straight-set win after recovering from a 2-4 deficit in the first set while saving six of the eight break points he faced.

On Tuesday, he became the first man born in the 2000s to reach the quarter-finals of every single Masters 1000 event.

It was Alcaraz’s first semi-final in the Italian Open, and he is set to move to the world No. 2 position from Alexander Zverev after the tournament.

The rankings will determine the seedings for the French Open, so Alcaraz will be the No. 2 seed in Paris, meaning he can’t play guaranteed No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner until the final.

The Spanish star was proud of his performance in the encounter.

Alcaraz said, “I played with such a high rhythm during the whole match and didn’t let him dominate in the rallies.

“It was a good weapon for me, and I’m really proud of how I approached the match. I think 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, and go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today.

Alcaraz will play the winner between Alexander Zverev and Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals on Thursday.

In the women’s category, Coco Gauff defeated Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in straight sets to qualify for the Italian Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

She is the fifth youngest woman to reach three semi-finals at the Italian Open in the Open Era, at the ages of 21 days and 54 days old.

Gauff is eyeing her first title of the season after losing the Madrid Open final to Aryna Sabalenka in April.

Alcaraz Defeats Draper To Qualify For Italian Open Semi-Finals is first published on The Whistler Newspaper