Competing in his maiden Masters quarter-final on clay, British number one Jack Draper continues his quest for a first-ever ATP Tour title on the surface on Thursday, when he meets Matteo Arnaldi in the last eight of the Madrid Open.
Draper made extremely light work of Tommy Paul in Wednesday's fourth-round showdown, while Arnaldi is proving that his takedown of Novak Djokovic in round two is no fluke.
Match preview
© Imago
As much as Paul was his own worst enemy in Wednesday's last-16 battle with Draper - committing a staggering 31 unforced errors and only registering seven winners - the Briton's victory was as much down to his merciless performance as it was Paul's mistake-strewn one.
The Indian Wells Masters champion needed just 67 minutes to take down the American 6-2 6-2 in the fourth round, further enhancing his reputation on clay, a surface where he is quickly becoming a force to reckon with ahead of an eagerly-awaited French Open.
After closing out the contest with a fabulous forehand strike - his 20th winner of the day - Draper's shots from that wing were even compared to the great Rafael Nadal by Annabel Croft, although the British number one typically remained grounded post-match as he goes from strength to strength.
If winning 86% of first-serve points against Paul was not enough, the world number six also took 70% of points behind his second serve on Wednesday, where the dainty drop shot also came into play; a new weapon for his already powerful arsenal.
A first-ever Masters quarter-final on the red dirt now awaits Draper, who is yet to drop a set at the 2025 Madrid Open, also taking down Tallon Griekspoor first up before benefitting from Matteo Berrettini's latest injury issue in Tuesday's one-set third-round clash.
© Imago
Italy's Arnaldi cannot boast a 100% set record at the ongoing tournament, having had to fight back to eliminate Borna Coric from his opening battle, but the 24-year-old can proudly show off a momentous victory over the legendary Djokovic from his second-round tie.
Draper talked up momentum after beating Paul, and his upcoming opponent has undoubtedly used his own to magnificent effect since besting the 24-time Grand Slam winner, sinking Damir Dzumhur and most recently Frances Tiafoe in straight sets.
Arnaldi's quarter-final showdown with Tiafoe ended 6-3 7-5 in his favour, thanks in particular to some staunch defensive work; the Italian saved six of the seven break points that the American brought up, only losing serve while trying to close out the match at 6-3 5-4 up.
However, Arnaldi responded with an immediate break back and hold to 30 to send the 16th seed packing, thus making it three straight wins against top-20 opponents, having also outclassed Andrey Rublev in Indian Wells before his successes over Djokovic and Tiafoe.
From an admittedly small sample size, Arnaldi has a 100% success rate from previous Masters quarter-finals - winning his first and only one to date at the 2024 Canadian Open - and one of Grigor Dimitrov, Gabriel Diallo, Lorenzo Musetti or Alex de Minaur will await in the final four if he can continue his giant-killing streak.
Tournament so far
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Bye
Second round: vs. Tallon Griekspoor 6-3 6-4
Third round: vs. Matteo Berrettini 7-6[2] ret.
Round of 16: vs. Tommy Paul 6-2 6-2
Matteo Arnaldi:
First round: vs. Borna Coric 4-6 6-4 7-5
Second round: vs. Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4
Third round: vs. Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-4
Round of 16: vs. Frances Tiafoe 6-3 7-5
Head To Head
Thursday's quarter-final will mark the maiden meeting between Draper and Arnaldi at the top level, as the British leftie faces another right-handed foe in the last eight.
With 17 wins and just four losses on his record for 2025, Draper's success rate of 77.2% far betters that of Arnaldi, who has a 57.1% rate from 12 victories and nine defeats.
We say: Draper to win in two sets
Having bettered both Djokovic and Tiafoe, as well as having a French Open fourth-round appearance on his CV, Arnaldi is no joke on clay, where he has displayed effective aggression and dogged defending in equal measure.
However, it would not be wholly inaccurate to say that Draper has one of the best forehands on the tour at the minute, and the world number six has won 21 of his 23 matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 10 since October, so another Masters semi-final surely awaits.
Ben Knapton
