Before you know it, the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the 2025 Australian Open, has been going on for a full week, and the first three rounds are all over. Starting today, the men's and women's singles will enter the fourth round of the 1/8 finals. The four favourites for the men's singles title in the tournament, the world's top three Sinner, Zverev Jr., Alcaraz and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, are getting better and aiming for the title. This article shows that the Spanish all-round fighter Alcaraz met British left-hander Draper in the 1/8 finals, ushering in a belated, first major meeting between the two in their careers.

Born in December 2001, Draper turned professional tennis in 2018, galloping across the court with a left-handed double-reverse. Because of frequent injuries, Draper's career has been up and down. It wasn't until the 2022 season that Draper reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup Masters in Canada, reached a career-high 42nd in the world rankings, and was nominated for the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award and the Best Newcomer award. Draper won three straight matches at the 2023 US Open, reaching the round of 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time, and reaching the final of a tour tournament for the first time in the same year (ATP 250 Sofia), ranking 61st in the world at the end of the year.

Heading into the 2024 season, Draper finally broke out, entering the top 15 in the world rankings for the first time at the end of the year, and was once again nominated for the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award. He reached the final of the ATP 250 in Adelaide, the final of the ATP 500 Acapulco, the first title of his career at the ATP 250 Stuttgart, and the first Grand Slam semi-final of his career, and finally the championship at the ATP 500 in Vienna.

Draper's world rankings have continued to climb the rankings, reaching the top 30 after the Queen's Cup in London, the top 20 after the US Open, and a career-high 15th after winning Vienna.

Standing at 1.93m tall and holding a left-handed backhand, Draper is an impressive and very difficult opponent on the ATP Tour with his tricky left-handed serve, strong forehand and excellent backhand draw. Even Serbian star Novak Djokovic praised Draper: "Tall and strong, his left-handed serve makes his right-handed shot very tricky, his backhand draw is very good, his forehand is good, he is very versatile." ”

In the second round of the Queen's Cup in London last year, with the new Stuttgart tournament for the first time in his career, Draper knocked out the defending champion Alcaraz in two sets, giving Alcaraz, who is aiming to defend the Queen's Cup and further defending the Wimbledon title, a dismount, and also avenged the two defeats to his opponents in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. With this fight, Draper announced that he is also the leader of the post-00 players in the tour today, and will compete with Sinner, Alcaraz, Rune, Musetti, Aliassime and others for a long time.

At last year's U.S. Open, Draper will play Alcaraz in the third round. It's a pity that the four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz actually dropped the chain in the second round, losing to the Dutch elder Van der Shanschupp in three sets, missing the two matches against Draper in a year, and also lost the opportunity to avenge his opponent in the second round of the London Queen's Cup. At the end of the 2024 season, Draper had planned to travel to Spain during the offseason to train at Alcaraz coach Ferrero's tennis academy, where he would play alongside Alcaraz, but was forced to cancel the training program due to an injury before his departure.

At 12:30 noon today, in the 1/8 finals of the 2025 Australian Open, Draper finally met Alcaraz for the fourth time, ushering in a belated first Grand Slam meeting between the two in their careers. Facing such a dangerous opponent, Draper, Alcaraz, who has high ambitions, has to brace himself and deal with it carefully. Like the bad situation of the third set and frequent mistakes in the third set against Portugal's Borges in the previous round, Alcaraz must do everything possible to eliminate the hidden danger.

Let's look at the two post-00 leaders, Alcaraz and Draper, in the 2025 Australian Open 1/8 finals, what kind of exciting, fierce and dazzling sparks will collide?

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Colorful Bean Powder)