Alcaraz through to Australian Open quarters after Draper retires

MELBOURNE : Carlos Alcaraz reached his second Australian Open quarter-final after injury-hampered opponent Jack Draper retired while trailing 7-5 6-1 on Sunday.

Third seed Alcaraz was well on top in the afternoon match at Rod Laver Arena when Briton Draper decided he could not continue with the troublesome hip he had managed through three five-set matches at the tournament.

"This is not the way that I want to get through to the next round. I'm just happy to play another quarter-final here in Australia," Alcaraz said on court.

"But really sorry for Jack. He doesn't deserve to get injured."

It was the second time Draper had retired injured against Alcaraz, having cut short their 2023 match at Indian Wells due to an abdominal strain.

Draper said he felt his hip tendinitis worsen after the third game and worried the injury was like a "ticking time-bomb".

"I just need to be sensible because there is no escape from it, especially here or whatever, you know, the tennis schedule is so tight," he said.

French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz will meet the winner of 10-times champion Novak Djokovic and Jiri Lehecka, who were playing in the evening session.

Draper had plans to train with Alcaraz in southern Spain during the off-season but had to cancel them and pull out of the United Cup team event because of the hip problem.

Yet he would have hoped to give Alcaraz a proper match, having proved a handful for the Spaniard previously.

Draper upset Alcaraz on grass at Queen's last year and took a set off him in their first meeting at Basel in 2022.

FRUSTRATED ALCARAZ

On a hot day at Melbourne Park on Sunday, the 23-year-old Briton dropped serve in the sixth game but broke back to 5-4, leaving a frustrated Alcaraz ranting at the chair umpire