Australian Open 2025 Men’s Day 8

Carlos Alcaraz benefitted from beaten-down  opponent in Jack Draper as the ailing Brit quit their fourth-round match at the Australian open on Sunday to hand the Spanish third seed a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Draper’s now-chronic injury and fitness problems sent Alcaraz into the last eight. The Briton was feeling the effects of winning three five-set matches since Monday. 

Draper explained: “I didn’t pull up amazingly well. I was really, really sore after I played my last match. 

“(We’ve been) managing this hip thing for the last week or so. I wasn’t expecting to come this far, actually.

“With all the hours I have played it’s been a bit too much on my body. From the first couple of games, I felt like everything was getting worse. 

“It’s not ideal to end this way.”

The Briton, who retired at the US Open, Tokyo and Acapulco last season, turne in his first of 2025 after 92 minutes of play.

Alcaraz now owns a 4-1 record in their series as he continues the quest to become the youngest man at age 21 to complete the career sweep of all four Grand Slam titles.

“It’s not the way I want to win the match to get through to the next round,” Alcaraz said. 

“I’m just happy to play in another quarter-final in Australia but a little bit sad for Jack, he’s a nice person. He doesn’t deserve to get injured.

“He couldn’t prepare the start of the season well because of an injury.

“I’m just a little bit sad for him but I’m sure he’s going to come back stronger and I want to wish him a speedy recovery.”

The Spaniard hinted that he is gaining strength as the serious end of the event approaches.

“Physically I’m feeling great so coming into the second week of a Grand Slam it’s really important to feel well physically because right now the matches are even tougher.

“I’m just ready. I think I’m doing great things off the court as well.

“I’m excited about playing my second quarter-final in Australia and hopefully getting further this year.”

Novak Djokovic, the record 10-time titlewinner here,  reached his 15th quarter-final here – tied with Roger Federer – at the expense of Jiri Lehecka, hammering the Czech 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)..

The Serb seeded seventh defeated his second straight Czech after Tomas Machac in the previous round. He now faces  Alcaraz in a showstopper quarter-final.

But Djokovic refused the traditional on-court interview, taking the mic from Jim Courier and briefly saluting the stunned crowd. Speculation suggested he was annoyed by rude/critical  comments from fans during the match. 

Second seed Alexander Zverev  stayed in control of France’s Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to next face American 12th seed Tommy Paul, a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 winner over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.