Carlos Alcaraz powered his way into the Italian Open semifinals with a 6-4 6-4 win over Jack Draper on Wednesday while keeping alive the possibility of his first Rome title and the third of the season.
The third seed made sure to fight off an early deficit in the first set, breaking Draper twice to eventually take control over the match. Already guaranteed a top-two seeding at the forthcoming French Open, Alcaraz will either face the defending champion Alexander Zverev or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the last four.
“I was not thinking about the score at all,” Alcaraz said. “I focused on enjoying my game—playing aggressive, using drop shots, coming to the net. That’s what made the difference.”
The victory for Alcaraz took him up the rankings to World No. 2, just behind Jannik Sinner, re-establishing him as a front-runner for the clay-court season.
Draper-the finalist of Madrid Open-was trying to be the first British man to make it to the semis in Rome since Murray in 2016, but he failed to match Alcaraz’s late-game consistency in both sets.
Ruud, meanwhile, will now face Sinner in a thrilling quarter-final after downing Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4.
