Alcaraz advances to Indian Wells quarterfinals after Draper injures himself

Semifinalist in 2022 of the Californian desert tournament, where he lost to his compatriot Rafa Nadal in an exciting duel, Alcaraz will seek a place in the semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinal duel between the American Tommy Paul and the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was featured as one of the last meetings on the Indian Wells agenda for this Tuesday.

Alcaraz leads the Spanish delegation in Indian Wells, popularly known as the ‘fifth Grand Slam’, along with Alexander Davidovichwho this Tuesday qualified for the quarterfinals with a resounding victory by 6-3 and 6-4 in one hour and 24 minutes against the Chilean Cristian Garín. Davidovich, who is not on the side of the Alcaraz team, will have a tough nut to crack in the quarterfinals: a confrontation against the Russian Daniil Medvedev who has already won three tournaments so far this year.

Also showing very positive feelings is Alcaraz who seems to have already left behind the hamstring injury that had left his participation in Indian Wells in question. 19-year-old Alcaraz faced another great young talent on the circuit such as Draper, 21, but the Spaniard put his game back on track very soon, breaking the first turn to serve the British left-hander. Undoubtedly in his game, with fantastic control of his shots and a robust service like an oak, Alcaraz controlled a first set with an iron hand that he finished off in 37 minutes.

On the other hand, Draper, who had just defeated his idol Andy Murray in the previous round, suffered a lot to secure his serve, so much so that he started the second set like the first: conceding a ‘break’ before the overwhelming game of Alcaraz. The party did not have much more history since Draper was forced out of the tournament through injury shortly after.

Alcaraz is the first seed in this edition of Indian Wells due to the absence of the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who is still unable to enter the US for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus. In this way, a victory in the first Masters 1000 of the season would come with an extra prize for the Spaniard since it would allow him to recover the number one ranking World Cup, now in the possession of Djokovic. After Indian Wells, Alcaraz will have to defend the 2022 Miami title that marked his first Masters 1000 win of his brief but already brilliant career.