Carlos Alcaraz reveals what happened in the warm-up before his match with Jack Draper which made him really ‘mad’

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Carlos Alcaraz shared some insight into his warmup before the Indian Wells Masters semi-finals.

The Spaniard was aiming for a third successive title at the Californian desert following success in 2023 and 2024.

But the streak is now over as Jack Draper became the third player to defeat Alcaraz at Indian Wells after Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

The 21-year-old suffered a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 defeat to the British number one, who advanced to his first Masters 1000 final.

What did Carlos Alcaraz say about his warm up before facing Jack Draper at Indian Wells?

Carlos Alcaraz is one of the most consistent players on the ATP Tour and he is very adept at applying plenty of pressure to his opponents.

But he was unable to do that in the first set against Draper, as Alcaraz won less than 30% of his second serve points, reached double figures in unforced errors, and he was in single digits for winners.

Alcaraz completely flipped the script in set two and won it without losing a game, but Draper claimed two breaks of serve to go up 5-2 in the decider.

The World number three claimed one break back and consolidated it to reduce the deficit to 5-4. But at the second time of asking, Draper successfully served for the match and ended Alcaraz’s win streak at Indian Wells.

Post-match, Alcaraz expressed his frustrations with his performance and how things did not feel right for him all day.

“I mean, I think today has been a difficult day for me. I didn’t practice well. I didn’t feel myself on court. You know, even in the warm up on court, I was missing a lot. I didn’t feel my shots,” Alcaraz told reporters.

“So that’s why I was talking with Juan Carlos on the bike, because I was a little bit mad with myself about the way I warmed up on court.

“As I said, I didn’t approach the match in the best way that I could. So I was nervous during the whole day, in the practice before the match, and I think that affected, you know, the match. So that’s why I had the conversation with Juan Carlos on the bike.”

Jack Draper beats Carlos Alcaraz for the second time and reaches first Masters 1000 final

Despite a drop in level through the second set, Draper produced a solid performance to defeat Alcaraz for the second time in his career.

This result also means that the British number one will move onto the ATP Tour’s top 10 for the first time in his career.

“It was a strange match in all honesty,” he said post-match. “Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace.

“What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. Against the top players in the world, they can change their momentum very quickly.

“I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line.”