After a magical week of unlikely comebacks, reality set in for Jack Draper as he retired with injury after losing the first two sets of his fourth-round match against Carlos Alcaraz.
Draper had pushed his once-fragile body to new extremes with three five set matches in a row, each time coming back from two sets to one down.
But after 12 hours and 34 minutes a physical reckoning was coming and the 23-year-old was in no fit state to test the might of Alcaraz.
‘It’s not the way I wanted to get through,’ said the 21-year-old No 3 seed, who is chasing the career Grand Slam here this fortnight. ‘I’m sad for Jack, he’s a nice person and he doesnt deserve to get injured. He couldn’t prepare properly for the season, we were meant to train for a week together (in Alicante).
‘I’m sure he’ll come back strongly as he always does.’
Before leaving the court, the 21-year-old also showed his class by writing a touching message to Draper on a television camera lens. He wrote: ‘You will be where you deserve. Get well soon Jack!’
Jack Draper was agonisingly forced to retire from his fourth-round clash against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday afternoon
The British star had gone two sets down in the match but appeared to be struggling with an injury before opting to withdraw during the intermission
Alcaraz, 21, showed his class by writing a message to Draper on the TV camera screen after he progressed to the quarter-finals. He wrote: ‘You will be where you deserved get well soon Jack!’
The first set was close but that was more to do with Alcaraz’s waywardness than anything coming off the Draper racket.
Playing Alcaraz looks like a peculiar experience. He will give you plenty of unforced errors but can also conjure winners from the most implausible positions. He can make his opponent look like a bystander, the backing vocals to Alcaraz’s free-form jazz, and Draper never felt to have much agency in the match.
Alcaraz was dancing well inside the baseline to attack Draper’s second serve and generally trying to keep the points as short as possible, which one imagines suited Draper given his enfeebled state. After only two games he was shaking out his left leg.
As he has to an extent all week, Draper was struggling to time his forehand when he really tried to crank up the power. He shanked a couple so dramatically that they flew miles into the stands.
A messy set with break points either way reached 5-3 with Alcaraz serving for the set. But he sent down a couple of double faults and ripped a forehand into the net as he served for the, giving Draper a break point. Alcaraz then put a tame slice into the top of the net to concede an utterly needless break.
Could Draper possibly nick this set? The untidy manner of Alcaraz’s play gave him a chance but, serving to stay in the set at 5-6, Draper again tried to go big on the forehand and again missed way long. That gave Alcaraz two set points at 15-40 and on the second he threaded a forehand past Draper at the net.
After the first set, Draper trudged off court for a medical timeout. He had been shaking out his left leg and later seemed to be indicating his hip – which troubled him during pre-season – but after three five-setters in a row it was inevitable that his body was groaning.
Alcaraz has lost only once in 55 Grand Slam matches in which he has won the opening set so Draper’s chances were effectively nil.
The Spaniard, who is gunning to win his first Australian Open title, claimed the first two sets 5-7 6-1 and looked in fine form on the court
Draper had played three five-set thrillers in the run-up to this match and despite struggling with injury, battled hard against Alcaraz, notably saving eight break points
Alcaraz will now advance to play the winner of tonight’s clash between Novak Djokovic and Jiri Lehecka
Draper, 23, has enjoyed an excellent Australian Open so far, notably showing his resilience in front of a partisan Australian crowd to come back and beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round
Draper was moving pretty heavily now and several times did not even attempt to recover his position after being dragged wide, just watching Alcaraz stroke the ball into the gaping court.
The contrast to the man on the other side of the net was profound; Draper hit a good, tight dropshot and Alcaraz tracked it down and dinked a delightful backhand winner cross court. For the first time the wagging finger came out, celebrating another clip for the Alcaraz highlight reel.
There were no more celebrations after that – it would have been crass given how rapidly Draper’s physical condition was deteriorating.
Draper surprisingly headed for his chair at the end of the second set – Alcaraz was half-waiting at the net for the expected resignation. But after a few seconds of thought – perhaps a signal from his coaches? – Draper did indeed fall on his sword.
