Draper is the whetstone of the Rome Masters in Alcalas

At 9 o'clock tonight, the first quarter-final of the Rome Masters began, with Spanish all-round fighter Alcalas against British left-handed Draper. The Russian Thor Kachanov, who lost three sets yesterday afternoon, was the touchstone to test the competitive state of the Alcalas Masters. Draper, who competed for the semi-finals with Alcalas tonight, is the whetstone of the Alcalas Masters.

After Kachanov's test yesterday afternoon, Alcalas was injured and his competitive state improved. After nearly two and a half hours of fierce battle, Alcalas was in good health. He said: "I didn't feel any pain in any part of my body, but I was a little tired after the battle."

Alcalas was still struggling to serve, with the goal rate of one-shot, the scoring rate of the first serve and the second serve hit a new low in this event. Although Kachanov was strong and did a good job in receiving and serving, it was because Alcalas himself was in poor service condition, which gave the opponent the opportunity to receive and serve. The winning scores were as high as 41, only 5 more than the unforced mistakes, which was slightly worse than the 24 in the first game, but it was much better than the unforced mistakes in the second game than the 13 in the second game, which shows that Alcalas has a good batting feel and has improved a lot of competitive state.

Alcalas' performance in front of the net has improved steadily, with 21 points in 26 online visits, and the score rate in front of the net exceeds 80%. Not only does the number of online visits far exceed the previous two games, but the score rate also exceeds the previous two games. This shows that Alcalas, who likes to play small balls and is good at intercepting in front of the net, is back.

As able to defeat the powerful Kachanov, Alcalas was overwhelmed with excitement: "Kachanov played well, it was very tricky, and the game was very difficult. I put in a lot of effort, ran more, and worked actively for every point. Finally, I finally won, which is amazing! I am proud of myself!"

The opponent Draper tonight has stronger combat power and more confidence, and how will it inspire Alcalas to perform? Can Alcalas treat Draper as a whetstone and temper himself into stronger and more confident?

Born in December 2001, the British left-handed player Draper is 1.93 meters tall, he serves tricky with his left hand, and has a fierce forehand hitting, and excellent backhanded flat shots. In the 2024 season, Draper ushered in an explosion. First he won the first career championship at the ATP250 Stuttgart Station, then won five consecutive games at the US Open and entered the semi-finals without losing a set. Finally, he won the ATP500 Vienna Station Championship, ranking 15th in the world at the end of the year.

Entering the 2025 season, Draper took a step further and finally turned into a top player, ranking in the top ten immortals in the world. In the fourth round of the Australian Open, Alcalas lost two sets in a row and retreated, winning the runner-up of the ATP 500 Doha station. He also defeated the defending champion Alcalas in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters, and finally won the first Masters championship in his career. On March 17, Draper ranked seventh in the world and entered the top ten immortal class in the world for the first time.

Although the back-to-back Miami Masters lost the front and lost to the final champion and Czech post-05 player Mensic in the first round of the second round, entering the clay season, Draper turned into a clay master. After the Monte Carlo Masters stopped in the third round, the Madrid Masters reached the final. On May 5, the world ranking reached a new high and reached fifth, becoming the second top five left-handed batsman in the world after Spanish war god Nadal in the 21st century.

At 9:00 tonight, the Rome Masters quarter-finals, Alcalas and Draper faced for the sixth career. In the previous five encounters, Alcalas led by three wins and two losses, but Draper's two wins gave Alcalas a heavy blow. Last year, Draper eliminated defending champion Alcalas in two sets in the second round of the ATP500 Cup of London. In the semifinals of this year's Indian Wells Masters, Draper defeated defending champion Alcalas in three sets. How could Alcaras feel like these two tragic defeats?

The decisive battle tonight will surely be full of sparks and will definitely be exciting! Draper hopes to continue his efforts and rank fourth in the world with the heroic victory over Alcalas, setting a new world ranking; Alcalas vows to hone his condition and confidence on this whetstone, and consolidate the second-ranking world ranking with a refreshing and successful revenge, thereby locking in the second-place seat in the French Open in 2025.