Carlos Alcaraz faced a mammoth challenge in Jack Draper at the 2024 Cinch Championships, and he didn’t pass the test, as the Brit kept his amazing run going.
Draper started his amazing run last week at the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart, where he found an incredible level to go all the way and win his maiden trophy. He played better with every match, culminating in a strong showing against grass specialist Matteo Berrettini in the final.
His next event was the Cinch Championships, where he had already played well in years past. The first round was not a huge problem for him, and the second round didn’t prove too complicated either, even though he faced defending champion Alcaraz.
Of course, the Spaniard is playing his first event on grass and faced very stiff competition from Draper in this match. He’s far from confident on grass, and it showed, especially in the tie-break of the first set, when Draper looked more sure of what he wanted to do.
It was a very close match, and neither really found a breakthrough in the first set, and that is why it had to be decided in the tie-break. The Brit has a far better serve than the world no. 2 player, and he could lean on it often.
It was evident during the tie-break, which Draper could win 7-3, mini-breaking his opponent two times. He had more winners and fewer mistakes and had the serve backing him, which greatly contributed to that ratio, and that’s why he won the opening set.
It was always going to be a very tough match for Alcaraz because, on his day, Draper is almost unplayable on grass, having grown up on the surface, which translates into his movement.
The second set only continued misery for Alcaraz, who got broken early, as Draper seemed to be fully in control. The top seed’s performance wasn’t bad at all, the home crowd favorite just played incredibly.
The Spanish player had a break chance to break back in that second set but didn’t use it to fall behind 2-5. Ultimately, Draper was able to win the match in two sets, 7-6(3), 6-3, to down the defending champion.