Australian Open 2025: Jack Draper retires in fourth round match against Carlos Alcaraz
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Jack Draper’s bid to reach a first Australian Open quarter-final has come to an end, after he was forced to retire in his highly-anticipated clash against Carlos Alcaraz.
The British No.1 arrived at the tournament with little preparation after nursing a hip injury he sustained in the off-season.
While he showed little signs of discomfort early in the tournament, three successive five set matches and more than 12 hours on court began to take its toll, as he retired at 7-5, 6-1 down against the Spaniard.
It might be a disappointing end to Draper's career-best run at the Australian Open, but the Brit admitted he had surpassed his own expectations following a hip tendonitis diagnosis.
“After how much I’ve played, I didn’t pull up amazingly well," he said in his post-match press conference. "I was really sore after I played my last match (against Aleksandar Vukic) and I’m obviously managing my hip.
“I wasn’t expecting to come this far in all honesty and obviously with all the hours I’ve played it’s just been a bit too much on my body. Today, from the first couple of games I felt everything getting worse – it’s not ideal to end this way.”
“I had tendonitis in my hip which I had to get an MRI to look like because I had a history of problems in that area," he added. "It hasn’t gone away I’m still dealing with that.
"In the pre-season it went into my back, I couldn’t walk and it was really difficult. I’ve come here and I’ve been managing that and I’ve been unbelievably surprised with how much I’ve been able to play and put my body through – more than I ever have done before.”
All eyes were on today’s match which marked the fourth career meeting between the two and the first since the Brit’s upset win over Alcaraz at the 2024 cinch Championships – marking his best career win by ranking.
However, after three successive five set victories, Draper’s impressive run Down Under soon caught up with him during the fight against the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Naturally, Draper didn’t look his usual, energetic self in the early stages of the match but managed to hold firm as he saved four break points in his first two service games.
The 23-year-old Brit managed to muster up some break point opportunities of his own on the Alcaraz serve but the Spaniard held firm before finding his breakthrough to take a 4-2 lead.
Alcaraz has barely put a foot wrong all tournament but today it’s safe to say his level wasn’t as high as what we’re used to. After producing two double faults and some costly unforced errors in one game at 5-3 he handed Draper the break back, but a fiery forehand winner sealed the set for the third seed.
The Briton called the trainer and headed off court for a medical time out but returned to continue the match. However, the break only proved beneficial for Alcaraz who turned up the heat in the second while Draper continued to show signs of struggles.
The world No.3 took advantage of his opponent’s struggles and sprinted ahead to a double break lead to secure the second set before Draper made the decision not to continue.
Speaking on Draper retiring, Alcaraz said, "It’s not the way that I wanted to get through. I’m happy obviously to play another quarter-final but a little bit sad for Jack.
“He’s a really nice person, he doesn’t deserve to get injured. He couldn’t prepare at the start of the season well. I’m pretty sure he’s going to come back stronger as always he does and I just want to wish him a speedy recovery.”
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