“I think he’s ambitious, and he always goes for it,” Carlos Alcaraz says of Jack Draper. “That makes him a really tough opponent.”
Draper has played with a quiet confidence so far in Indian Wells. Does he have enough of it to end Alcaraz’s 16-match win streak there?
BNP Paribas Open Match Preview
The last time Draper faced Alcaraz, in the fourth round at the Australian Open, he was already out of gas. The Brit had survived three five-set matches in the span of six days; he had to go all the way to 10-8 in a final-set match tiebreaker to secure his third-round victory. So it was hardly a surprise when he lost the first two sets to the better-rested Alcaraz, and only slightly more surprising when he retired rather than try to play a third.
The rematch, from Draper’s point of view, will be held on a more level playing field. Neither he nor Alcaraz have dropped a set in their first four rounds at Indian Wells. And while Alcaraz has lost fewer games, Draper has had the more eye-opening run, beating Joao Fonseca 6-4, 6-0, and knocking out two Americans, Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, with higher rankings than him. Put this streak together with his runner-up finish in Doha last month, and a breakout year would seem to be on the horizon for the 14th-ranked Draper.
The 23-year-old, who has had an injury-riddled start to his career, is starting to sound convinced himself.
“Me and my coach are big believers that if I put my game on the court and if I do the right things, then, you know, I can honestly beat anyone,” Draper said on Thursday.
