Alcaraz stops late Draper come back to advance in Basel
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz won his first ATP 500 match as the World No. 1 player when he defeated Jack Draper in the first round of the 2022 Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The 20-year-old Brit secured his spot at the 2022 NextGen ATP Finals. His first-round opponent in Basel won that competition last year. Draper wanted to take inspiration, and he was looking to start with a surprising victory in Basel.
On the other hand, Alcaraz didn't manage to start well in Astana three weeks ago and wanted to prove his qualities this time. The match between the two youngsters started better for Draper, who got to three break points in the first three games.
He managed to use one of those, and soon he was up 3-1. Despite facing two break points from the Spaniard in the eighth game, he kept his composure and added one more break to win the first set 6-3 in 43 minutes.
But Alcaraz wants to finish this year as World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, and to do so, he needs good results in Basel, Paris, and Turin. His determination was obvious in the second set as he got two quick breaks.
Moreover, he never faced a break point in the second set and won it 6-2 in just 34 minutes. The third set was a big battle between both youngsters.
First, it seemed that the Spaniard wouldn't allow his opponent to have any break points again. Alcaraz broke his opponent, got a 4-2 lead, and was looking to finish the match soon.
Yet, Draper fought back, won three games in a row, and at 4-5, his opponent was serving to stay in the match. But this time, it was Alcaraz's turn to win three consecutive games and advance to the second round of the 2022 Swiss Indoors in Basel after winning the match 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
