Novak Djokovic vs Jiri Lehecka; Ball kid collapse; Carlos Alcaraz beats Jack Draper; Coco Gauff TikTok message; Alexander Zverev against Ugo Humbert

Carlos Alcaraz reached his 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, the most by a man before his 22nd birthday, by advancing at the Australian Open when 15th seed Jack Draper stopped playing due to injury after he had lost the first two sets on Sunday.

No. 3 seed Alcaraz was leading 7-5, 6-1 when Draper decided he couldn’t continue.

After winning each of his first three matches at Melbourne Park in five sets, he struggled with physical problems.

“It’s not the way I want to win a match and get to the next round,” Alcaraz said.

“Glad to play in the quarter-finals again here in Australia but a bit sad for Jack.”

The two were supposed to train together for a week during the offseason, but Draper had to turn down that opportunity due to an injury.

Alcaraz will next face either 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic or No. 24 Jiri Lehecka, who play tonight.

“I’ll definitely look into it. Where? I don’t know it. I have to recover now. “I’m thinking about recovering as best as I can with my team,” Alcaraz said.

Sunday’s win was Alcaraz’s first win against a top-20 opponent at the Australian Open, which he is trying to win for the first time to complete a career Grand Slam.

He already has two titles at Wimbledon – defeating Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals – as well as one each at the US Open and French Open.

At just 21 years old, Alcaraz, along with Björn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander, achieved the highest number of major quarter-final appearances at this age.

Alcaraz’s best performance at Melbourne Park last year was reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Alexander Zverev.

“I’m just happy with the level I’m playing,” Alcaraz said.

“On the pitch and off the pitch I feel really comfortable here in Australia.”