Carlos Alcaraz has secured a spot in the Italian Open semi-finals, having just knocked out Jack Draper.
Alcaraz labelled Draper ‘one of the best players in the world’ ahead of their quarter-final encounter in Rome.
And Jannik Sinner has praised Draper’s consistency this season, with the Briton having climbed to fifth in the ATP Tour rankings.
But his journey at the Italian Open has been ended by world number three Alcaraz, the third seed at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz clinched a 6-4, 6-4 win over the fifth seed, requiring one hour and 37 minutes to secure the victory over Draper, who he lost to in their Indian Wells semi-final earlier this season.
Carlos Alcaraz surpasses Jannik Sinner after reaching Italian Open semi-final
The Spaniard is now eyeing another success on clay this season, having previously triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters.
And he should be full of confidence in Rome, having just surpassed world number one Sinner in one significant area.
As per OptaAce, Alcaraz has now reached an 11th ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, overtaking the 10 of Sinner for the outright most of any player born since 2000.
The 22-year-old plays the winner of Lorenzo Musetti and Alexander Zverev next, while Sinner remains in the competition, playing Casper Ruud in their quarter-final.
Carlos Alcaraz ahead of Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic in key stat
Alcaraz’s strong run at the Italian Open is undoubtedly both surprising and unsurprising, with the Spaniard really impressing on the Rome clay.
In terms of the former, he entered the current ATP Masters 1000 event having withdrawn from the Madrid Open due to injury.
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But in terms of the latter, he is clearly one of the biggest talents on clay, and looks very, very comfortable on the surface.
His latest victory over a top-five player simply adds to his stunning career record, with Alcaraz trailing only Bjorn Borg for win rate against such opponents, as per OptaAce.
That dates back to when the ATP rankings were first published back in 1973, and involves players who have played a minimum of 10 matches.
With a figure of 65.6%, the four-time Grand Slam champion finds himself ahead of the likes of legendary players Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic.
Draper meanwhile can hold his head high after another impressive run on clay, with the Briton having really taken his game to another level on the surface.
Alcaraz certainly knew a battle was in store in Rome, having said of his opponent post-match: “I never doubted he would be at the very top of the game.”
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