British number one Jack Draper missed out on a maiden Italian Open semi-final as he fell to a straight-sets loss against Carlos Alcaraz in Wednesday's last-eight encounter.
The world number five had struggled to showcase his best form in previous wins over Vit Kopriva and Corentin Moutet but gave a brilliant account of himself against Alcaraz, whom he shares a positive off-court relationship with.
However, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion harnessed his raw power and proved more clinical in the key moments to seal a 6-4 6-4 victory with one hour and 38 minutes on the clock.
Alcaraz came into Wednesday's quarter-final with a 3-2 head-to-head lead over Draper, although two of those wins for the Spaniard came by way of retirement, and Draper had conquered the four-time Grand Slam winner en route to the Indian Wells Masters title several weeks ago.
The pair's first meeting on clay lived up to the billing, but while Draper only managed to convert two of the eight break points he brought up on the Alcaraz serve, the Spaniard took each of the four he fashioned against the Briton.
Alcaraz will face either Lorenzo Musetti or Alexander Zverev - his 2024 French Open final opponent - in his 11th Masters semi-final, the outright most of any male player born in 2000 or later.
However, returning world number one Jannik Sinner has also competed in 10 ATP 1000 semi-finals and can draw level with Alcaraz by beating Casper Ruud in Thursday's quarter-final.
How Alcaraz downed Draper to reach Italian Open semi-finals
Carlos Alcaraz reaches the Rome semi-finals despite a valiant effort from Jack Draper 👏 pic.twitter.com/RdGXN1zQU9
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) May 14, 2025
First blood in Wednesday's quarter-final actually went to Draper, who broke for a 4-2 lead in the opening set on an Alcaraz double fault, but the Spaniard responded in the most emphatic fashion with an immediate break back to love.
That swift reply was the first of five straight games Alcaraz won, including a tricky hold to serve out the first set, where Draper fashioned two break points on a 40-15 lead but let both slip through his grasp.
Alcaraz commenced the second set in perfect fashion, breaking Draper to love in the opening game, but the British number one gave the Spaniard a taste of his own medicine by responding straight away to level the scores.
However, the fifth seed than fatally wasted another two break points in the eighth game, giving Alcaraz the momentum to break to love again for a 5-4 lead before taking his first match point.
"The most important thing I did was not thinking about the shots at all. I didn't let him dominate or stay long in the rallies. Really proud about the way I approached the match," Draper said on the court after the match.
Alcaraz managed three times the amount of winners that Draper did on Wednesday, putting away 24 compared to a meagre eight for the Brit, although the pair managed just one ace apiece.
Ben Knapton
