World number 1 Carlos Alcaraz described Jack Draper as a «very dangerous» player after his first round match at Swiss Indoors Basel. On Monday, Alcaraz kicked off his debut campaign in Basel. In his first match in Basel, Alcaraz survived a major scare as he rallied from a set down to beat 45th-ranked Draper 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
That was Alcaraz’s first ATP win since becoming No. 1. «At the beginning of the match it was tough. I made a lot of mistakes early on. I wanted to play really aggressive on this court. For me, it’s a little bit slower.» than the other tournaments.
But obviously I had to manage that, I had to work on my issues and change my tactics a little bit in the second set. I knew that Jack is playing very well. He is a really dangerous player and he really had to be focused and of course never give up,» Alcaraz said, according to the ATP website.
How did Alcaraz defeat Draper?
From the start, Draper began to put pressure on Alcaraz’s service games. After missing two break points in the first game of the match, Draper claimed the first break in game three to open up a 2-1 lead.
Alcaraz had a chance to recover the break in game eight, but Draper saved two break points to take a 5-3 lead. In game nine, when Alcaraz was serving to stay in the first set, Draper earned his second break to win the first set.
After losing the first set, Alcaraz began the second set with back-to-back breaks to take a 4-0 lead. Alcaraz then held onto his serve for the rest of the second set to send the match into a third set. In the third set, Alcaraz claimed the first break in game five but broke again in game eight.
However, Alcaraz kept his focus when he broke Draper again in game 11, before serving for the match in the following game.
