Composure key for Draper as Brit stuns Alcaraz

By Abi Curran

Jack Draper insisted his composure was key after stunning triple grand-slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the LTA’s cinch Championships.

On-court brilliance saw the newly-installed British No.1 feed off a home crowd and book a place in the quarter-finals with a rousing 7-6 (3) 6-3 victory over the reigning Queen’s champion.

The 22-year-old was in dreamland after dominating a tantalising tie-break in the first set, grabbing an advantage over the world No.2, before convincingly sealing the biggest win of his career in the second.

The bourgeoning Sutton tennis ace will face American Tommy Paul in the last eight after the fifth seed defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-4.

He said: “Before the match, I knew that Carlos is the defending champion here, he obviously won at Wimbledon last year.

“He’s an incredible talent and so amazing for the sport so I had to come out and play really well and luckily I did.

“There’s no place I’d rather be right now, my family, my friends, the British support is amazing and I want to keep on playing here, I’ve been desperate to come back.

“I’ve got my grandad here, he’s just turned 80, he’s doing well, my mum, my whole team and my school friends.”

Draper extended his winning streak to seven matches following his maiden ATP tour title win in Stuttgart last week, ending Alcaraz’s 13-match grass-court streak.

He became the first Brit to defeat a top-two player on grass courts since Andy Murray beat No. 1 Novak Djokovic to grab the 2013 Wimbledon title.

And, Draper is the first British man to defeat the top seed at Queen's in 52 years when John Paish defeated Stan Smith in the 1972 quarter-finals.

Injury marred much of Draper’s 2023 season but the Brit is back to his best on the grass.

With a Wimbledon singles main draw berth also secured, there seems to be no stopping Draper, who has his eyes on battling further through a historic Queen’s run.

He added: “I didn’t feel too nervous or anything today, it was just another match and I didn’t think about it too much.

“I keep on building my confidence and my general level, I was calm and composed and I’m glad I was able to come through the match today.

“Coming here two years ago and beating Fritz, I’d just broken into the top 100, I felt like a bit of an imposter.

“I’m not going to get too high on this win, it’s really important for me to be ready for tomorrow and if I can put my game on court, I can give myself a really good chance of winning the match.

“Hopefully I can carry on this momentum and keep on building.”

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website