Ailing Draper abandons Alcaraz match as Melbourne run ends

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

British Open champion Jack Draper retired from the fourth round of the Australian Open with an injury to third-rounder Carlos Alcaraz.

Draper, seeded 15th, called a halt to the match when trailing 7-5 6-1 against four-time major champion Alcaraz on a hot day in Melbourne.

The 23-year-old left-hander needed medical attention off the court after the first set before giving up when the second quickly vanished. He had a hip injury when he first started the tournament.

Before departing Rod Laver Arena in a warm ovation, he made an apology and raised both hands to the audience.

Draper, who came through three gruelling five-set matches to reach the fourth round, was the only Briton to reach the last 16 of the men’s or women’s singles.

“After how much I have played, I didn’t pull up amazingly well”, said Draper.

He had not competed since the end of October before this Australian Open campaign.

After my last match, Draper said, “I was really, really sore because I was managing this hip thing.”

“I wasn’t expecting to come this far in all honesty. It has been a little too much on my body with all the hours I’ve spent playing.

Alcaraz, age 21, struggled to perform at his best during their match, but he is still on the verge of achieving his goal of being the youngest Open player to win a career Grand Slam.

The reigning back-to-back Wimbledon champion, who also won the 2022 US Open and 2024 French Open, will face Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

There were understandable doubts about Draper’s condition coming into Sunday’s match, after being taken all the way by Mariano Navone, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic.

Given that questions had presumably been raised about Draper’s durability, having him outlast each opponent already had a sense of satisfaction.

But, considering such a workload after an injury-disrupted off-season, it felt as though beating Alcaraz would be a step too far at Melbourne Park.

Draper planned to “sleep and eat a lot” on Saturday after seeing out victory over Australia’s Vukic at almost 1am local time, and still being on site at close to 2: 30am to fulfil his post-match commitments.

He was not listed on Saturday’s practice schedule after those late-night exertions.

Playing in the height of the Melbourne heat, which he had earlier experienced, was also not ideal against a player with the athleticism and intensity of Alcaraz.

Draper’s left leg was kicked out early in the first set, but he didn’t seem to be moving too quickly.

After a protracted medical timeout, he realized there was no point in aggravating the issue further.

Draper explained that his tournament preparations only began ten days before his opening match, saying, “It was not ideal to end this.”

“From the third game, I felt like I had a lot of pain in different places, particularly in the hip,” she said.

Asked if he considered not playing at all, he added: “We were managing it. Before my last game, I didn’t feel fantastic, but I did, after all, get out and did it.

Alcaraz would surpass his idol Rafael Nadal’s record of 24 when he became the youngest man to win a career Grand Slam to claim the title this year.

To help him do that, and take his level to newer heights, the young Spaniard has remodelled his serve.

Alcaraz joked that he had developed into a “servebot,” a player who can crush opponents with the force of their opening shot after scoring 14 aces in his second-round game.

Against Draper, it was clear his serve is still a work in progress.

After five games, Draper managed to hold onto two break points that the Briton could not take, and Alcaraz’s first-serve percentage, which was significantly lower, at 40%, and two double faults in the fifth one helped him.

That was crucial because Draper’s serve sank during the sixth game under the intense pressure he was also facing.

However, Alcaraz’s fears that he would abandon the set were unfounded.

More double faults and a flurry of unforced errors helped Draper recover from his set-break in the ninth game and hold on to level the set more confidently.

Alcaraz drew his tension with a terrifying “vamos” when he held the match 6-5 before attempting to break up with the opening set.

Alcaraz’s groundstrokes, which he knew would help him break the deadlock at 3-0, helped his opponent move ahead before clinically seeing it out, prompting Draper to call a timeout for the match.

” It is not the way which I want to win, “said Alcaraz.

” I’m happy to play another quarter-final here in Australia, but I am sad for Jack – he doesn’t deserve to be injured.