In the early hours of tomorrow morning, the first ATP Masters of the season, one of the North American "Sunshine Doubles", will start two semi-finals, against the two sides: Russian Tsar Medvedev VS Danish Light Rune, Spanish all-round fighter Alcaraz VS British handsome Draper. Defending champion Alcaraz and Draper with a left-handed racket and a backhand with both hands is a continuation of an unfinished match in this year's Australian Open quarter-finals (Draper retired injured after losing the first two sets). Encountering each other again after two months, the two must go all out and give it a go.

Born in December 2001 and standing at 1.93m, Draper has a tricky left-handed serve, a strong forehand and an excellent backhand. After turning professional tennis in 2018, Draper reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 Rogers Cup Masters in Canada, the round of 16 at the 2023 US Open, and the first tour final at ATP 250 Sofia. However, in the 2024 season, Draper ushered in an explosion. After reaching the finals of the ATP 250 Adelaide and 500 Acapulco in succession, he finally won the first championship trophy of his career at the ATP 250 Stuttgart. He also won five consecutive matches at the 2024 US Open without losing a set, and reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. At the end of 2024, Draper will win the ATP 500 in Vienna and reach a career-high 15th place in the world rankings.

Serbian star Djokovic fully affirmed Draper's great progress: "Draper is very versatile. Tall and strong, the left-handed serve makes the right-handed racket very tricky, the backhand is excellent, and the forehand is good. Last year's US Open quarter-finals, Australian hare De Minaar, who lost to De Moldper in three sets, commented: "It's not easy to play against Draper under any circumstances. With his left hand, he was able to pull the ball wide enough to move his opponent back and forth on the court. He has powerful weapons such as strong serves, forehand shots, and backhand flat strikes that can pose a threat to anyone. ”

Alcaraz and Draper have faced each other four times in their careers so far and have learned the full power of their opponents. It was after Alcaraz won the US Open in the 2022 season and became the world No. 1, in the first round of the ATP 500 Basel station, the two met for the first time in their careers. Fortunately, Alcaraz woke up in time and won two sets in a row before coming back to win Draper. In the 1/8 finals of the 2024 Queen's Cup in London, Draper won two sets in a row with the power of the Stuttgart grass court championship, knocking out the defending champion Alcaraz and causing a shocking upset.

Interestingly, in addition to the first meeting between the two, Alcaraz came back to defeat Draper, Alcaraz's other two victories were Draper who retired due to injury and did not finish the game smoothly. In the 1/8 finals of the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, Draper retired due to injury when he fell behind 2:6 and 0:2. In the 1/8 finals of this year's Australian Open, when Draper fell behind 5:7 and 1:6, he retired again due to injury. Now that the two are meeting for the fifth time in their careers, and in a high-profile game like the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters, they must go all out and give it a go.

What's even more interesting is that in the second round of the US Open last year, the 2022 US Open champion Alcaraz played abnormally and lost to Dutch elder Van der Shanschupp in three sets and went out early. In the third round of the match, the British handsome Draper played against Van der Shanchop, who had just swept Alcaraz out and was full of confidence, and swept the opponent in three sets, which can be regarded as a bad breath for Alcaraz. In the quarterfinals of this year's ATP 500 Doha station, Alcaraz, who had just won the ATP 500 Rotterdam championship, was defeated by the Czech post-00 player Lehechka and missed the back-to-back championship. In the semi-finals that followed, it was this Draper who came out again, defeated Lehechka, and once again avenged Alcaraz.

The two post-00s players who are so destined, the Spanish all-round warrior Alcaraz and the British handsome Draper, will face off against the Indian Wells Masters semifinals tomorrow morning, what kind of sparks will collide and what kind of wonderful and fierce performances will be given? The big battle is about to start, and the fans are waiting with bated breath!

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Colorful Bean Powder)