Brilliant Carlos Alcaraz weathers early Jack Draper storm to secure Rome semifinal spot

Carlos Alcaraz once again overcame Jack Draper to advance to the semifinals of the Rome Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. The Spaniard recovered from an early setback and accelerated at crucial moments to reach his 11th Masters 1000 semifinal.

Alcaraz is guaranteed to leave the tournament as world No. 2 and be the second seed at the French Open, avoiding a potential duel against Jannik Sinner until at least the tournament final. For now, his focus is on Rome, where he awaits his opponent from the match between Lorenzo Musetti (8th) and Alexander Zverev (2nd).

It was a strong start on serve for both players, with not too many long rallies in the beginning. Draper positioned himself far behind the baseline and looked to play to Alcaraz's backhand, which ended up working to secure the first break and go ahead 4-2.

However, Alcaraz managed to find solutions to his opponent's game, became more aggressive, and broke back in the next game. A few minutes later, a couple of unforced errors from the Brit gave Alcaraz a second consecutive break, putting him ahead after navigating tense moments in the previous game, and then he closed out the set 6-4.

Alcaraz totaled 10 winners against only 4 for Draper, while they tied in unforced errors with 7 each. Additionally, Alcaraz won 66% of the points played on his serve compared to just 52% for the world No. 5.

The second set was anticipated to be high tension, starting with exchanged breaks from each player. Draper managed to take the lead on his serve and looked much closer to securing another break than Alcaraz, who struggled with his first serve effectiveness. However, the 4-time Grand Slam champion managed to come through unscathed and maintain parity until the middle of the set.

With Draper leading 4-3, a double fault gave Alcaraz a break point in a game that went to 20 points and where he wasted two break chances. Alcaraz showed all his momentum after finishing the game, having emerged from a difficult situation. Without hesitation, he went for the win in the next game, breaking to love and earning the opportunity to serve for the victory.

Alcaraz won 9 of the last 10 points played and secured a notable 6-4, 6-4 victory after one hour and 38 minutes. He advances to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 again and reaches a 13-1 record on clay courts this season.