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Jack Draper will overtake Novak Djokovic and climb into the top five of the world rankings for the first time after demolishing Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. Draper needed just 77 minutes to see off the Italian, who beat Djokovic in the second round, 6-0, 6-4, with a stunning first set in which he lost only 10 points.
The British No 1 is the only top 10 player remaining in the men’s tournament and is now just two matches away from claiming a second Masters 1000 title in two months. Draper’s rapid rise to the top of the men’s game kicked off with the Indian Wells title in March and has accelerated on clay, which has been considered his weakest surface.
Having brushed aside Tommy Paul in the last 16, the power of Draper was simply too much for Arnaldi in the opening set, which lasted just 25 minutes. The Italian offered significantly more resistance in the second set but still did not create a break point and Draper set up a semi-final against either the 10th seed, Lorenzo Musetti, or lucky loser Gabriel Diallo.
“I feel stronger every time I play,” said Draper. “The last couple of years coming onto the clay I felt against these guys I’d always be the one on the back foot and I’d always be the one defending.
The next part of my game was just getting strong, getting more capable physically to do the things I know I can do and bully these guys. I feel like I’ve been doing everything in all areas pretty well, I’m just excited to keep on going, keep on working hard and hopefully it keeps on coming together.”
While Draper is brimming with confidence, Iga Swiatek appears to be in something of a crisis with less than a month to go until the French Open. The defending champion successfully recovered from losing the opening set 6-0 against Madison Keys on Wednesday but was all at sea in a 6-1, 6-1 defeat by Coco Gauff in the women’s semi-finals. Swiatek, who has not won a title since Roland Garros last year, looked ill at ease throughout, was given a rare warning for an audible obscenity and appeared to be struggling to hold back tears.
There were jeers from some of the crowd late in the match as Swiatek sprayed balls well out of court, and the Pole walked off with head bowed after just 65 minutes. “I feel like I haven’t been moving well and the tennis was also on and off for most of the tournament,” she said.
“Today everything kind of collapsed tennis-wise. I wish I would have moved better. I know how I can move and usually I didn’t have to think about it much but for the last weeks it hasn’t been that easy.”
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Having won 11 of her first 12 meetings with Gauff, many of them one-sided encounters, Swiatek has now lost three in succession, with this the first time the American has got the better of her on clay. “Maybe it wasn’t her best level today but I think I kind of forced her into some awkward positions,” said Gauff . “I’m really happy with how I played today.”
Victory over either Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina in the final would see Gauff overtake Swiatek into second place in the rankings. The other men’s semi-final will pit Casper Ruud, who saw off Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5, against Francisco Cerúndolo, who ended the run of the Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik.
