Australian Open 2025 results: Jack Draper retires against Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne fourth round
2025-01-19
Category: sports

Australian Open 2025Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne ParkCoverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
British number one Jack Draper ran out of steam as Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz moved into the Australian Open quarter-finals.Draper, seeded 15th, retired when he was trailing 7-5 6-1 against four-time major champion Alcaraz on a hot day in Melbourne.The 23-year-old left-hander needed treatment off the court after the first set before abandoning the match at the end of the second.He held both hands up to the crowd by way of an apology before going off Rod Laver Arena to a warm ovation."It is not the way which I want to win," said Alcaraz."I'm happy to play another quarter-final here in Australia, but I am sad for Jack â he doesn't deserve to be injured."I wish him a speedy recovery."Draper, who came through three gruelling five-setters to reach the fourth round, was the only Briton to reach the last 16 of the men's or women's singles.Alcaraz, 21, was far from his best during their contest but continues his bid to become the youngest man in the Open era to complete the career Grand Slam.The reigning back-to-back Wimbledon champion, who also won the 2022 US Open and 2024 French Open, could face Novak Djokovic next.Serbia's Djokovic, aiming for a record-extending 11th men's singles title in Australia, plays Czech Jiri Lehecka later on Sunday.
There were understandable doubts about Draper's condition coming into Sunday's match, after being taken all the way by Mariano Navone, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic.Outlasting each opponent had already provided a sense of satisfaction for Draper, given a lot of questions have been rightly raised about his durability.But, considering such a workload after an off-season disrupted by a hip injury, it felt like beating Alcaraz would be a step too far at Melbourne Park.Draper planned to "sleep and eat a lot" on Saturday after seeing out victory over Australia's Vukic at almost 1am local time and still being on site at close to 2:30am to fulfil his post-match commitments.He was not down on Saturday's practice schedule.It meant that playing in the height of the Melbourne heat â with temperatures around 34C â was not ideal against a player with the athleticism and intensity of Alcaraz.Draper did not seem to be moving too quickly and was kicking out his left leg early in the first set.Although he managed to continue after a lengthy medical timeout, he decided at the end of a one-sided second set that there was no point in further aggravating the problem.