"He doesn't deserve to get injured": Carlos Alcaraz sends classy message to Jack Draper after Australian Open retirement

Carlos Alcaraz has reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the second time in his career after eliminating Jack Draper who had to retire due to injury after the second set.

In the on-court interview after his 7-5/6-1 win over the Briton, he wished him the best and confessed that he was supposed to train with him in pre-season and was unable to do so due to physical problems that seem to have taken their toll on him:

“It’s not the way I want to get through. I’m just happy obviously to play another quarterfinal. But a little sad for Jack. He’s a nice person. He couldn’t prepare the start of the season well. We should have done a good week of pre-season but couldn’t because of an injury as well so I'm just a little bit sad for him," he said.

"He doesn’t deserve to get injured. He’ll come back stronger as always. I just want to wish him a quick recovery.”

Regarding his form, he emphasized that he feels in a great physical moment inside the court and mentally outside. Recall that after the poor results of the second part of last season, the Spaniard confessed that being away from home for so long was something he did not take well. He emphasizes that this year away from the courts in Melbourne he is also feeling very well. He says he is ready to face a second week in which he could face Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner:

"I’m just happy with the level I’m playing. On the court, off the court, I’m really comfortable here in Australia, which I think is pretty good," he added.

"Physically, I’m feeling great so I can’t wait for the second week of the Grand Slam, I think it’s really important to feel well physically. By now the matches are even tougher, so I’m just ready. I think I’m doing the right things off the court as well. I’m just excited about playing my second quarter-final here in Australia and hopefully get further this year."

He also added that he will watch Djokovic. "Well, I’m going to watch that for sure, where I don’t know. I need to recover now with my team. I’m going to try and make the most of my time to watch the match and when I’m with the physio I’ll probably be watching.

"I mean, that guy called Novak Djokovic, I played a few times against him! It’s going to be a really interesting match to watch."