Carlos Alcaraz moved into the quarter-finals of Indian Wells after Jack Draper retired during the round-of-16 match.
Alcaraz will play Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot in the semi-finals after the eighth seed saved six match points to beat Tommy Paul.
Should Alcaraz win the event, he will supplant Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings.
“I felt the ball really well. I’m really happy with that part,” said world No. 2 Alcaraz afterwards.
“I would say I returned well, I hit great shots. I finished the match with confidence in my shots, to come into the next round with more confidence.”
Alcaraz had fought back to win the only previous meeting between the pair – in Basel last year – and, while he broke Draper on the Brit’s first service game, he was soon under pressure.
However, having fallen to 0-40 during the second game of the match, he fought back to hold.
From there, Draper began to feel the effects of the injury he first suffered against Murray, and with his ability to serve and his movement badly impacted, surrendered his serve again in the fifth game of the match.
He would go on to lose the opening set 6-2.
Draper called the physio between sets, but the second would begin as the first had, with the Brit dropping serve. And after a hold to love from his opponent, Draper retired injured.
Alcaraz will next face Auger-Aliassime, who has won all three of their previous meetings.
Whoever wins that contest will face Jannik Sinner or defending champion Taylor Fritz.
Sinner beat three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-1 6-4 while Fritz won 6-4 6-3 against Marton Fucsovics.
– – –
Read the full article here
