New Delhi: 

World no.3 Carlos Alcaraz stormed into his maiden Italian Open semi-final after thrashing Jack Draper in straight sets in the quarter-final in Rome on Wednesday.

Continuing his impressive run in the tournament, the three-time Grand Slam champion made light work of Britain’s no.1 in the quarters. Alcaraz reached his 11th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final with the commanding win.

Carlos Alcaraz dominates Jack Draper in quarters:

Alcaraz, who joined an elite list of players, including the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, to reach all nine ATP 1000 tournament quarterfinals before turning 23, dominated Draper in the quarter-final in Rome on Wednesday. The world no.3 held his serve comfortably but was tested early by Draper, who raced to a 4-2 lead in the first set.

However, Alcaraz remained composed under pressure and staged a brilliant comeback as he broke Draper’s serve to level things at 4-4. The Spaniard started dominating the proceedings after levelling scores, and Draper committed unforced errors to hand him a 5-4 lead. Alcaraz went on to close the first set comfortably at 6-4.

In the second set, Draper once again produced some early fight and raced to a 4-3 lead. Alcaraz was struggling with his first serve, but despite being under pressure, he managed to take the set 6-4 to close out the match in 1 hour 38 minutes and storm into the semi-final.

Alcaraz is yet to learn about his opponent in the semi-final, but will be hoping to continue his impressive run to bag his maiden title in Rome this year.

Draper was expected to make life difficult for Alcaraz in their quarter-final meeting in Rome on Wednesday, having beaten the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion in their last meeting in Indian Wells in March this year. However, in what was their first meeting on clay, Alcaraz reigned supreme to inch closer to his first Italian Open crown.

Alcaraz defeated Draper 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to reach the Italian Open semi-finals. It was the Spaniard’s fourth win over the British no.1 in six meetings between them.

Alcaraz’s victory against Draper has ensured he will finish as the world no.2 by the end of the tournament and will be the second seed at the upcoming French Open in Paris.

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