Streaking Jack Draper shocks Carlos Alcaraz, thrills home crowd at Queen’s Club

Jack Draper scored the biggest win of his young career at the cinch Championships on Thursday, stunning world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

"It was a really tough match," Draper said on court. "I knew coming out here that Carlos is the defending champion here, and obviously won Wimbledon last year. He's an incredible talent and so amazing for the sport. I had to come out and play really well, and luckily I did today."

The on-fire 22-year-old is the newly-minted British No. 1 after capturing his first ATP title at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart, and increased his winning streak to seven in a row while ending Alcaraz’s 13-match run on grass, defeating the Roland Garros champ in one hour and 38 minutes on Center Court.

Alcaraz began his grass swing looking to build on his unbeaten run on the surface in 2023, having won Queen’s Club and Wimbledon back-to-back last summer. After edging past an in-form Francisco Cerundolo in his first round, he found himself up against an inspired Draper, who is playing at a career-high ranking of No. 31 this week.

While Alcaraz took time off after winning his third Grand Slam title in Paris, Draper had gotten straight to work on grass, defeating former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the BOSS Open final, and carried that momentum through a straight-set victory over Mariano Navone to kick off his Queen’s Club campaign.

"There's no place I'd rather be right now, with my family, my friends, and the British support has been amazing. I want to keep on playing here and I've been desperate to come back!"

Alcaraz was a daunting task given his 0-2 head-to-head against the former world No. 1 but their first meeting in Basel went to three sets back in 2022. Trading strong serving holds through the first 12 games, neither man faced a break point ahead of the opening set tiebreaker.

It was there that Draper made his move, racing through the first four points and taking a 6-1 lead on Alaraz before ultimately sealing the Sudden Death, 7-3.

Draper earned the match’s first break point when Alcaraz served down 2-3 in the second set, converting and saving a break point of his own to edge within a game of the upset.

Alcaraz put on a brave last stand on the brink of defeat, saving a pair of match points down 15-40 and a third as the game sprawled across six deuces. Forcing Draper to serve for the match, Alcaraz threatened a comeback as he took a 0-30 lead but Draper was unmoved, serving and volleying his way to a fourth match point. The lefty outrallied Alcaraz one last time to emerge victorious in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

In all it was a clean match from Draper, who struck 24 winners to 22 unforced errors; Alcaraz struck 21 winners of his own but made 26 unforced errors and managed just 48% of points behind his second serve.

Up next for the Brit is an opportunity for another upset in No. 5 seed Tommy Paul, who is yet to drop a set at Queen's Club after scoring victories over Sebastian Baez and Alejandro Tabilo (Draper leads 3-1).