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Jack Draper is through to back-to-back quarter-finals at clay-court ATP 1000 events for the first time, and can move up to a career-high ranking of World No 4 if he wins his next match at the Italian Open.
It’s going to be tough, as Draper will be playing French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, but the British No 1 won his last match against the Spaniard on his way to triumphing at Indian Wells this season.
The sixth meeting between Draper and Alcaraz will be the first to be played on clay, so it's going to be unlike anything Draper has faced previously, but there will be a big reward on the line if he can advance to the semi-finals.
Should Draper win, it will move him above Taylor Fritz into the top-four of the ATP Rankings and will see the 23-year-old enter this month’s French Open as the fourth seed.
That would mean Draper would not be able to face any of the world’s top three - Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and defending champion Alcaraz - until at least the semi-finals at this year’s Roland Garros.
Draper has pushed himself to the limit physically and mentally in reaching the Italian Open quarter-finals for the first time, which comes after his impressive run to the Madrid Open final earlier this month.
Draper battled from behind to beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the last-16 on Tuesday, setting up another high-profile meeting with the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz.
The 21-year-old leads the head-to-head 3-2. Draper won their last meeting in the Indian Wells semi-finals, while Alcaraz progressed when they clashed at the Australian Open earlier this year when Draper retired after going two sets down.
"I'm giving myself the best chance to be there every point,” Draper said. “I'm in the quarter-finals now and there's no time to be tired any more. I've got to keep on pushing hard every point and I will do that."
English (US) ·