Carlos Alcaraz has booked his place in the Italian Open semi-finals with a straight-sets victory over Britain’s Jack Draper, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out in a surprise result on Wednesday.
The Spanish third seed beat Draper 6-4, 6-4 in what he described as one of his finest performances of the season, setting up a semi-final clash with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. Alcaraz, who is chasing his third title of the year, moved up to second in the ATP world rankings behind Jannik Sinner following the win.
“I lost focus a little bit in the second set but not for too long, so it was pretty good,” said the four-time Grand Slam winner, who is seeking a maiden title in Rome. “Probably it was one of the most complete matches I’ve played this year.”
Draper, seeded fifth, began strongly and took an early two-game lead. However, Alcaraz responded by breaking back twice and taking the first set. In the second, he broke Draper to love at 4-4 before confidently serving out the match.
Meanwhile, Musetti pulled off a notable upset by defeating defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7/1), 6-4. The Italian saved four set points late in the first set and dominated the tiebreak before carrying his momentum into the second to reach his third clay-court semi-final of the year.
“It was not an easy start, but I managed to come back and find a way, and that’s the key to this match,” said Musetti, who electrified the home crowd with his performance.
Zverev, who also lost his world number two status with the defeat, became visibly frustrated during the match, arguing with the umpire but remaining composed on court until Musetti secured a decisive break at 4-4 in the second set.
Elsewhere, Casper Ruud’s hopes of securing both the Madrid and Rome titles were kept alive with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jaume Munar. The Norwegian seventh seed will face top seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
In the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka’s fine form on clay came to an abrupt end as she was beaten in straight sets by China’s Zheng Qinwen. The eighth seed triumphed 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals under the floodlights at the Foro Italico.
It was Zheng’s first win over Sabalenka in seven meetings and sees her reach her first semi-final of the year. After breaking the Belarusian’s serve midway through the first set, Zheng never looked back, securing another break early in the second to seize control.
Sabalenka fought hard, holding serve in two challenging games during the second set, but failed to put pressure on Zheng’s serve. The 22-year-old Olympic gold medallist will now face Coco Gauff in the last four.
“It’s been a long time since I reached a semi-final,” Zheng told Sky Sports. “At the start of the year I had some arm problems, but now I feel perfectly in shape and I’m trying to play better tennis every day.”
Gauff earlier defeated seventh seed Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to progress to the semi-finals. The American’s consistent showing in Rome has secured her the world number two ranking.
The 21-year-old, who lost to Sabalenka in the Madrid final, is aiming for her first title of the season ahead of the upcoming French Open. She holds a 2-0 head-to-head record against Zheng.
