Carlos Alcaraz neutralised an in-form Jack Draper in a 6-4 6-4 victory to secure his place in the Rome semi-finals.
The Spaniard was in top form as he produced the best win of his season in a straight sets victory over Draper.
A tournament to be proud of for Draper, who headed into the match having won eight of his last nine matches, but the Brit didn’t have enough sustained quality for the Spaniard.
Next for Alcaraz will be either Lorenzo Musetti or defending champion Alexander Zverev.
Both sets were tightly contested with the serves of both players dominating the majority of the match.
The form of Draper was clear to see as he got to incredible shots and put pressure on Alcaraz in the rallies.
That was rewarded when Draper was the first to break the deadlock as he took his second break point of the game to take a 4-2 lead.
However, the response from Alcaraz was one of a champion as he broke back to love and was emphatic on return.
A few errors from Draper cost the world number five as Alcaraz edged to a run of four consecutive games to take the opening set.
The Spaniard’s variety and power saw him win a fifth consecutive game at the start of the second set as he broke in the opening game.
A frustrated looking Draper bounced back though despite the Alcaraz pressure as he immediately broke back with some powerful forehands.
That seemed to give Draper a lot of confidence as he looked the more likely to break through, creating two break points and creating consistent pressure on the Alcaraz serve.
It wasn’t to be though as Draper was inefficient and a lack of concentration from the Brit allowed Alcaraz to cruise to the last two games and seal his place in the last four.
After the match Alcaraz said that he was happy with how he approached the match, “I think the most important thing that I did today was not thinking about the shots at all,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.
“Not thinking about the fact that I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy. On court I just tried to be aggressive, play good shots, drop shots, go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today.
“I played such a high rhythm during the whole match that I didn’t let him dominate or stay long in the rallies. I think that was a really good win today for me, and I’m just really proud about the way I approached the match.”
The win means Alcaraz will return to world number two and will be the second seed for Roland Garros.
Alcaraz could now play the player he overtakes in the rankings in the form of Alexander Zverev in the last four should the German defeat Lorenzo Musetti in the second quarter-final tonight.
