Ailing Draper abandons Alcaraz match in Melbourne heat

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

As Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, British no. 1 Jack Draper lost his composure.

Draper, seeded 15th, retired when he was trailing 7-5 6-1 against four-time major champion Alcaraz on a hot day in Melbourne.

After the first set, the left-hander, 23, needed treatment off the court before giving up the game at the end of the second.

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

“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.

” I wish him a speedy recovery. “

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

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, could face Novak Djokovic next.

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 many questions about Draper’s durability have already been correctly posed, outlasting each opponent had already given him a sense of satisfaction.

However, it seemed like a step too far at Melbourne Park to beat Alcaraz in light of such a workload after an off-season that was disrupted by a hip injury.

After watching Australia’s victory over Australia’s Vukic at almost 1am local time and remaining on site at close to 2: 30am to fulfill his post-match obligations, Draper planned to “sleep and eat a lot” on Saturday.

He was not down on Saturday’s practice schedule.

It meant that playing against a player with the athleticism and intensity of Alcaraz in the height of the Melbourne heat, which was around 34C, was not ideal.

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