Alcaraz gets to Australian Open quarters when Draper retires with injury

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz reached his 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, tied for the most by a man before his 22nd birthday, by advancing at the Australian Open when 15th-seeded Jack Draper stopped playing because of injury after dropping the first two sets Sunday.

The No. 3-seeded Alcaraz was ahead 7-5, 6-1 when Draper decided he couldn’t continue. He’d been dealing with physical issues after winning each of his first three matches at Melbourne Park in five sets.

“It’s not the way I want to win a match, to get through to the next round,” Alcaraz said. “Happy to play another quarterfinal here in Australia, but a little bit sad for Jack.”

The two of them were supposed to spend a week training together in the offseason, but Draper had to turn that chance down because of an injury.

Alcaraz next will meet either 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic or No. 24 Jiri Lehecka. They were scheduled to face each other in the fourth round on Sunday night.

“I’m going to watch that, for sure. Where? I don’t know. I have to recover now. My mind is (on) recovering as good as I can with my team,” said Alcaraz, who planned to keep tabs on possible tactical choices for his quarterfinal.

Sunday’s match goes into the books as a victory for Alcaraz, his first against a top-20 opponent at the Australian Open, which he is trying to win for the first time to complete a career Grand Slam. He already has two titles from Wimbledon — by defeating Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals — plus one apiece from the U.S. Open and French Open.

Still just 21, Alcaraz pulled even with Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander for the highest number of major quarterfinal appearances by that age.

Alcaraz’s best run at Melbourne Park was getting to the quarterfinals last year before losing at that stage to Alexander Zverev.

“I’m just happy with the level that I’m playing,” Alcaraz said. “On the court, off the court, I’m feeling really comfortable here in Australia.”

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