Sam Bunce
Carlos Alcaraz will be looking for a three-peat as he hunts down another Indian Wells title in California. It is a first Masters 1000 semi-finals for Jack Draper, and if he beats the Spaniard on Saturday, he will climb into the top 10 of the ATP men’s singles rankings for the first time in his career.
After being forced to retire earlier this year at the Australian Open against the current world number two due to injury, which seemed very understandable given his three consecutive five set matches in the space of five days, Alcaraz wrote on a camera “you will be where you deserve, get well soon Jack.”
There are no signs of slowing down for Jack Draper
Draper’s injuries and the disruption to his rhythm as of late have not stopped the Brit in his tracks, as he was a finalist in Qatar and is among the very best in California. There are no signs of slowing down for Jack Draper, who is entering one of the most captivating periods of his career, but he will have to get past Carlos Alcaraz who has won 16 matches in a row at Indian Wells.
Last year’s Olympic runner-up is number two on the scene right now due to Jannik Sinner’s ban, and he will have until May to try and capitalise by getting points on the rankings leaderboard. If he was going to go on a formidable run, the time would be now, and the task to overtake Sinner may never come again.
The Australian Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic was an opportunity to silence the critics who questioned Alcaraz’s overall consistency and lack of composure in crucial periods when he had momentum. These are very fine margins, but if we are considering him as chasing the top spot, these are the nuances that will ensure he rises to even greater heights.
The 24-time grand slam winner under the guidance of Andy Murray defeated Alcaraz. It was not the start to the year the Spaniard would have been dreaming of given the ambitious aspirations he rightly has, but ultimately what has to come with the 21-year-old for the remainder of the year could be overwhelming to the competition.
His opponent at this Indian Wells semi-final is not to be underestimated, and Alcaraz is aware Jack Draper has won all of his matches in California in this tournament without losing a single set. He won against the teenage wild card Joao Fonseca, the recent ATP title winner in Buenos Aires, and then went on to inflict defeat on three American players in a row on his path to the semi-finals.
Taylor Fritz could not find a way through the resolute and assertive display of the Brit
Jenson Brooksby suffered at the commanding left-handed striking of Jack Draper before the number four seeded Taylor Fritz could not find a way through the resolute and assertive display of the Brit in the Round of 16. Fritz is an ATP Finals and US Open runner-up from 2024, and overcame Rafael Nadal at the Indian Wells final in 2022.
The two players were drawn against each other in the Paris Masters last year too, and it was a three set thriller with the dominance shifting back and forth, and it was certainly a taster for what had to come at Indian Wells.
Draper was 5-1 up in the second set and he was well on his way to another straight set victory, but Fritz brought the set back to 5-4. Draper had to hold his serve to win the match and he held his nerve well to advance.
The quarter-finals was another tough challenge as Ben Shelton was given the chance to prove himself on home turf. The Australian Open semi-finalist had a rocket of a serve throughout the matches leading up to this one. It was the battle of the left-handed players between Draper and Shelton, but Draper’s resilience and ability to step up in essential moments seemed better than it ever had been. 6-4, 7-5 and finally, Draper had a semi-finals at a Masters 1000 event to play in.
The winner of Jack Draper vs Carlos Alcaraz will face the winner of the other semi-final between Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The players in the latter match faced each other at Indian Wells in the quarter-finals last year, as Medvedev cruised to the final four in straight sets.
Rune defeated Tallon Griekspoor in the quarter-finals this year, who toppled one of the favourites, number one Alexander Zverev, in the round of 64.
Meanwhile, the Russian swept Tommy Paul and Arthur Fils aside, although his final set against the Frenchman would have been either heartbreak or euphoria in a matter of seconds. The quarter-final match with Fils on the other side of the net went to a tie break in the final set, whereby Medvedev won 9-7.
He celebrated like he had won the final and these types of scenarios seem to be what tennis players value so much. He said himself that he lost two very tight matches against Learner Tien in Australia and Tallon Griekspoor in Dubai this year, so another loss of that kind could have sent his confidence crashing for tie breaks he may come to encounter in the future.
He was also a runner-up in 2023 and 2024 at Indian Wells to Carlos Alcaraz and they could meet again.
Other stories to mention from Indian Wells include both Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud being eliminated in the Round of 64 by unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp and unseeded Marcos Giron respectively in shock upsets.
A repeat of the Australian Open final between Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys will be coming up in the women’s singles semi-finals on Saturday as well. The winner will go on to face either Mirra Andreeva or the reigning champion Iga Swiatek on Sunday’s finals day.
Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of Hoi Pham via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @jackdraper via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @atptour via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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