Carlos Alcaraz has shown his true colours after being left “upset” by the manner of his controversial defeat to Jack Draper at Indian Wells. British tennis star Draper beat the Spaniard 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 on Saturday, sending him to his first Masters 1000 final and into the world’s top 10 rankings.
Despite an uncharacteristically shaky opening period, world No.3 Alcaraz was soon back in contention with a dominant display. But the hard-fought match ended in chaos as there were two VAR reviews for a single point in the final set. With the score at 1-1 and 15-15, the British No.1 successfully chased down a ball and returned it – but chair official Mohamed Lahyani thought it bounced twice even though Draper had clearly got to the ball before the second bounce.
Realising his error, Lahyani initially requested the point to be replayed to resolve the issue. Still unhappy with the decision, Draper sought a second review, having felt that the umpire’s call did not hinder Alcaraz and that he should have been given the point.
After winning the lengthy second review, Draper broke the game and the match swung back in his favour, denying Alcaraz the chance to win a third successive Indian Wells title. Rather than blaming the VAR interventions, however, the Spaniard admitted he was upset with himself, calling the first set “one of the worst I’ve played in my whole career”.
He said: “Obviously I wanted to win the third in a row, but, I mean, I can’t pretend to win every match. I am not as upset about not getting the third one in a row. I am upset about myself, about the way that I approached the match, the way that I felt during the whole day, that I couldn’t calm down myself.
“That’s, for me, the most disappointed thing that I’m feeling right now, because, I mean, is probably one of the worst sets that I have played in my whole career, the first set. So that means how nervous I was, you know, before the match, during the whole day. So that’s, for me, it is really disappointing.
And Alcaraz then showed his true character again with a classy message to Draper afterwards, saying: “I remember, you know, in January when I played him in Australia, he had to retire. I said, ‘you will be where you deserve’. And he deserves to be top 10. He deserves to play a final in the Masters 1000.
“I am happy about him because I didn’t doubt his level, about himself. He’s ready to stay there for a long time. He’s ready to play for the big events, for the big tournaments.
“I wasn’t surprised about what I saw today. It just wasn’t an easy match for him, playing for the top 10, playing for the first Masters 1000 final, and I think he did great. He dealt with the nerves better than I did. So great to him and all the best in the final.”
The defeat comes two months after Draper was forced to retire with an injury during their clash at the Australian Open, with Alcaraz delivering a wholesome message to his fallen rival. The four-time Grand Slam winner wrote on one of the cameras: “You will be where you deserve. Get well soon, Jack.”
Draper will now face 12th seed Holger Rune in the final at Indian Wells. He said ahead of the clash: “I feel incredible obviously to beat Carlos in this sort of stage in the tournament on that court. I have watched the top players in the world play on that court for many, many years now, and it feels amazing, honestly, both those things.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk