Jack Draper ousted defending champion Carlos Alcaraz from Indian Wells in a bizarre semi-final that featured a pivotal double-bounce controversy early in the deciding set.
Despite a curious mid-match dip, Draper found enough big serves to close out a topsy-turvy 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 victory, and thus secure his second win in three meetings with the prodigiously talented Alcaraz.
The wider implications included the end of world No 3’s 16-match winning streak at this tournament, a chance for Draper to land a maiden Masters 1000 title on Sunday afternoon, and Draper’s confirmation as a member of the world’s top ten for the first time.
There were many U-turns in a match that – in the words of pundit Martina Navratilova – delivered a “juniors’ club scoreline”. But arguably the biggest talking point came with the third set perfectly poised at 1-1, 15-15.
The drama began when Draper sprinted towards one of Alcaraz’s frequent drop shots and just about managed to dig his racket under the ball. That wasn’t how chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani saw it, however. Lahyani called “Not up”, before agreeing that it had actually been a fair shot after Draper used the video review facility.
So far, so straightforward. The more problematic issue was whether the point should be replayed, or whether it should go to Draper, given that Alcaraz’s next shot had skewed wide.
Lahyani initially called a let, but Draper insisted that he watch the replay for a second time. Eventually, Lahyani told the crowd that his call of “Not up” had come after Alcaraz’s miss, and awarded the point to Draper, giving him a crucial 15-30 lead in a game where he eventually broke serve.
If you follow the tour closely, you may remember that Draper had been involved in an awkward double-bounce row during last season’s Cincinnati Masters.
On that occasion – which preceded the introduction of video reviews – Draper had actually bunted the ball down onto the court before it bounced over. There was a significant backlash on social media, leaving him thinking about nothing else for four days.
In this instance, Draper had a much stronger case. Both men showed mutual respect and sportsmanship as they came together at the net, with Draper offering to replay the point if Alcaraz had been distracted by the umpire’s call. But Alcaraz declined. Later, he told reporters that he hadn’t been sure of the order of events, before adding that the point “didn’t affect my play at all.”
Nevertheless, the ensuing break of serve proved to be hugely significant, handing Draper the early advantage in the decider. This was the key period in the match, given that both players were finally duelling properly after a peculiar sort of phoney war.
If the first two sets had lasted barely 50 minutes between them, that was because first Alcaraz and then Draper had found themselves completely unable to put the ball in the court.
Rewinding to the opening exchanges, Draper had won 12 of the first 13 points as Alcaraz looked utterly at sea. The defending champion coughed up 13 unforced errors in the space of seven games, which meant that Draper was effectively starting each game with a 30-0 lead.
Later, Alcaraz admitted that this fiasco was “probably one of the worst sets that I have played in my whole career”. He also gave a very honest explanation, which effectively came down to his anxiety about Draper’s quality of tennis.
“I think today I was more worried about his level, his game, than myself,” said Alcaraz. “Since the morning, I was thinking about his game, because he’s really tough, he’s really solid, and it’s going to be a really physical match.”
The psychology of tennis can be quixotic, however, and the pendulum swung back quickly in the opposite direction. Although Draper chiselled out further opportunities to win both the first two games of the second set, he ended up losing them both as Alcaraz found some accuracy at last. At this moment, he completely lost his own focus.
“I’ve watched a lot of Carlos here in Indian Wells, and was expecting him to come out all guns blazing,” Draper told Sky Sports after the match. “But it was kind of the opposite. The first set, I was a bit shocked. I was playing some solid tennis, but honestly there was a lot of errors [from Alcaraz]. And then in the start of the second, I had a chance, but then I completely lost concentration. The energy just sapped from my body, and I lost my way for about 25 minutes.
“I went to the toilet and looked at myself in the mirror,” Draper added. “And I just thought, ‘I’m in the semi final of a Masters 1000, needing one win to make the top ten in the world, and playing against Carlos Alcaraz in a full stadium. I just need to give everything I got, and not worry about being tired, not worry about nerves.’”
Draper’s reboot has echoes of Andy Murray’s own mirror conversation before the deciding set of the 2012 US Open final. It clearly worked, because the Draper who returned to the court was no longer the hag-ridden figure who had thrown away the second set, but the aggressive shotmaker who had disposed of the two leading Americans – Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz – in the previous two rounds.
In the immediate aftermath of the double-bounce debate, Draper found a pinpoint backhand pass to claim that first break for 2-1, then extended his advantage with a second break in the seventh game of the set. This one was pure stubbornness, because Alcaraz had five separate opportunities to complete the hold, but kept missing the coup de grace.
After an eight-minute struggle, Draper took the spoils with a crushing crosscourt backhand that embodied the way he is now looking to impose himself, even against the most dangerous opponents.
The double-break advantage was vital, because Alcaraz managed to peg one of them back before Draper finally served out for the win at the second attempt.
“The 4-2 game that I won, I worked really hard,” he told Sky Sports. “There’s a lot of tension in my body, and a lot of mental energy was used up from that game. I felt calmer at 5-4 [than 5-2]. I felt like I could be aggressive from the first ball, and I wasn’t still lingering from the last game.”
When the Indian Wells announcer informed the crowd of Draper’s rankings breakthrough – which will carry him up from No 14 to either No7 or No9, depending on the result of the final – he felt his heart beat a little faster.
“I got emotional,” Draper explained. “I’ve been through so much the last few years with injuries and setbacks and the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, and it’s such a tough sport. We give so much to it. Yeah, it feels incredible. But obviously, I’ve got another one tomorrow.”
Sunday’s match will bring Draper up against Holger Rune, the 21-year-old Dane who has already played three Masters finals, winning the first of them in Paris three years ago.
Whatever happens, Draper should be delighted with the gracious tribute he received from Alcaraz on Saturday night. “He deserves to be top ten,” said the outgoing champion. “He deserves to play a final in the Masters 1000. I am happy about him because I didn’t doubt about his level, about himself. He’s ready to stay there for a long time.”
