Jack Draper and Carlos Alcaraz are set to face off for the sixth time after making it through the round of 16 at the Italian Open in a heavily anticipated quarter-finals match on Wednesday. The match will involve one star, Alcaraz, whose specialty is clay, while the other, Draper, is quickly becoming one.
In Rome, Draper is coming off a "bamboozled" 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 match win over Corentin Moutet. Draper used the word "bamboozled" to explain the beginning stages of the match with Moutet after dropping the first set in surprising fashion.
Alcaraz's 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 defeat over Karen Khachanov vaulted him into the quarters, where he can continue his clay court dominance, this time against Draper. The two last met at Indian Wells earlier in the year, eventually leading to the Brit's first Masters 1000 title after bouncing Alcaraz along the way.
Duel clay-court strengths will be put to the test
While Alcaraz is considered an already establishe clay-court performer, since the beginning the clay season, Draper has rushed onto the scene showing everyone he can make the surface work for him. Until three weeks ago, Draper's highest clay-court achievment was two ATP 250 quarter-finals appearances.
Well, things have drmaticaly shifted since the clay season kicked off in Monte-Carlo. Draper made it to the round of 16 there, and followed that up by a finals loss in Madrid to Casper Ruud, and now a quarter-finals berth in Rome. Since those two ATP 250 markers, Draper has won eight of his nine matches on clay, and has now reached consecutuve QF rounds on the surface.
While he's not at Alcaraz's level on clay, Draper is transforming into a force of his own.
Clay is considered the most demanding tennis floor, and it's hardly been Draper's natural surface to play on. Clay produces a slower speed for its combatants, which can lead to lengthy rallies and longer points. Draper appears to have become significantly more comfortable of late and improved his ability to glide on the dirt.
In Alcaraz's case, he's already mastered clay much like his Spaniard predecessor, Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz has the highest winning percentage on clay, second only to Nadal's. Of course, his 63 titles on clay speak for themselves, including a 112-4 record at the French Open, resulting in 14 Grand Slam wins. Alcaraz doesn't have the tiles yet to meet Nadal's eye line. However, that doesn't mean the younger Spaniard doesn't have what it takes to win on clay and win consistently.
Alcaraz's game is explosive, and his ability to adapt that explosiveness on clay has done wonders for him. Even though the surface slows the game down, Alcaraz uses that to his advantage with drop shots and disguise. How he uses those advantages against Draper remains to be seen. Nevertheless, for two players who have risen on the clay surface, their quarter-final match in Rome is a sure bet to be one of the more exciting matches of the event thus far.