Indian Wells: Jack Draper ‘is looking forward to the second shooting against Carlos Alcaraz after a quarterfinal victory over Ben Shelton | Tennis news
Jack Draper says that “she is looking forward to shooting once more” in the world no. 3 Carlos Alcarazzi at Indian Wells, and the duo met on a semi-final stage on Saturday, live on Sky Sports tennis.
Draper defeated Americans Ben Shelton 6-4 7-5 on Thursday night, and previously knocked out World No 4 Taylor Fritz in the 16th round.
Brit met Alcaraz once before in Indian Wells in the last 16 conflict in 2023, and Alcarazza progressed after Draper was forced to withdraw he was injured while 6-2 2-0 behind.
The couple met twice, and Draper beat Alcarazza 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in the last 16 in Queen’s 2024, but the Spaniard dropped Draper from the Australian Open 2025 in January.
“It’s amazing to do it [reach a first Masters 1000 semi-final] and in the Indian wells, the tournament I have watched from a young age, “Draper said Sky Sports tennis.
“Looking at all the greats playing on these fields, it means the world to me. Honestly, that’s why I play, why I have invested with my team with all hard work and yes, today I feel amazing.
“Alcarazza goes for the triple, but he loves these conditions. He plays amazing here.
“I have already confronted him once and I was a little injured in that match, so I look forward to shooting again.
“I look forward to having a hard time competing, doing my best as always and trying to bring really good times.”
‘I didn’t know what to expect from Shelton – he’s a difficult problem to solve’
From his quarterfinal victory over his colleague Lefie Shelton, Draper admitted that it was far from direct.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I only hit him once in court.
“You know, it’s very different to watch someone on TV. I obviously know what he brings, but when you actually face someone in court, it’s quite difficult to solve problems against someone who doesn’t give you such a rhythm.
“It has a very ino -anoxy style, a huge server, a huge forehand, can hit the winner anything from Forehand and puts a lot of slices on Backhand.
“It was hard for me at first, but I thought I was really well maintained in difficult conditions and I was proud of the way I was competing.”
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