New British No1 Draper sends tennis world Wimbledon
The world No31 beat the Spaniard 7-6(3), 6-3 to move into the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club.
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Jack Draper celebrates his sensational win
Jack Draper celebrates his sensational winCredit: Rex
The 22-year-old played brilliantly to keep Carlos Alcaraz at bay
The 22-year-old played brilliantly to keep Carlos Alcaraz at bayCredit: Reuters
The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion was unable to conjure his brilliant best
The reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion was unable to conjure his brilliant bestCredit: AP
Draper won his first ATP title last week, beating former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini to lift the Stuttgart Open.
His triumph saw him leapfrog Cameron Norrie in the ATP rankings, becoming the latest man to hold the honour of being British No1.
Barely 48 hours after his win over Berrettini, Draper was back in action at the Queen’s Club.
The 6ft 4in star brushed aside Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2 in round one on Tuesday, on what was the Argentine’s first ever match on grass.
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Draper’s comfortable victory set up a mouthwatering clash with reigning champion Alcaraz, which did not disappoint.
The task was a tall one, with Roland Garros champion Alcaraz on an eight match winning streak, and having not lost on grass since a round four defeat to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon in 2022.
Draper kept Alcaraz at bay in the first set, booming his lefty serve down in an opening stanza that did not feature a single break point for either man.
He subsequently held his nerve to take the tiebreak 7-3 in front of a jubilant home crowd.
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The match’s first break point finally came with Alcaraz serving at 2-3 in the second set, with Draper directing a return down the line to convert it.
Now getting a read on the three-time major champion’s serve, Draper set up three match points chances during Alcaraz’s next service game.
Carlos Alcaraz wins Roland Garos 2024
The reigning Wimbledon champion saved them all to force Draper to serve out his victory.
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And that’s just what he did, serving it out to secure what, by ranking, is the best win of his career.
Alcaraz is currently the world No2, only behind Sinner.
Draper’s previous best win by ranking came against then No5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in Canada two years ago.
After his triumph, Draper said: “It was a really tough match. Carlos is the defending champion, he won Wimbledon, he’s an incredible talent and amazing for the sport.
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“I had to come out and play well and luckily I did.
“There’s no place I’d rather be right now, with my family, my friends and the British support. I’ve got my granddad here, who’s just turned 80, he’s doing well.”
‘I’M NOT TOO GOOD RIGHT NOW’
Alcaraz later admitted that he did not perform to his standards, but was quick to give credit to Draper.
He said: “I’m not too good right now. I felt like I didn’t play well, I didn’t move well.
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“Of course I have to give cre
dit to Jack. I think he played really good tennis today.”
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