Ailing Draper abandons Alcaraz fight in Melbourne heat

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Meeting place: Melbourne Park

Coverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra plus live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

British number one Jack Draper ran out of steam as Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz moved into the Australian Open quarter-finals.

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

The 23-year-old left-hander needed off-court treatment after the first set before giving up the match at the end of the second.

He held up both hands to the crowd in apology before walking from Rod Laver Arena to a warm ovation.

“That’s not the way I want to win,” Alcaraz said.

“I’m happy to play another quarter-final here in Australia, but I’m sad for Jack – he doesn’t deserve to be injured.

“I wish him a speedy recovery.”

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

Alcaraz, 21, was far from his best during their contest but continues his bid to become the youngest man in the Open era to complete the 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.

Serbia’s Djokovic, aiming for a record 11th men’s singles title in Australia, will face Czech Jiri Lehecka later on Sunday.

There were understandable doubts about Draper’s condition coming into Sunday’s game, having been taken all the way by Mariano Navone, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic.

Surviving each opponent had already provided a sense of satisfaction for Draper as a lot of questions have been rightly raised about his durability.

But given such a workload after an off-season disrupted by a hip injury, it felt as though knocking Alcaraz would be a step too far at Melbourne Park.

Draper planned to “sleep and eat a lot” on Saturday after watching the win over Australia’s Vukic at almost 1 local time and still be on site close to 2:30 a.m. to fulfill his post-match obligations.

He was not down for Saturday’s training program.

That meant playing in the height of the Melbourne heat – with temperatures around 34C – was not ideal against a player of Alcaraz’s athleticism and intensity.

Draper didn’t seem to be moving too quickly, kicking out his left leg early in the first set.

Although he managed to continue after a lengthy medical timeout, he decided at the end of a one-sided second set that there was no point in aggravating the problem further.