British number one Jack Draper was forced to retire in fourth round match against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz at Rod Laver Arena tournament, his heroic Australian Open journey came to an end.

The UK number one came into the match unprepared after suffering a hip injury in pre-season and admitted he still had to deal with the injury.

He then used his body to play three five-set matches, spending more than 12 and a half hours on the court, which proved to be too much.

After taking a medical timeout at the end of the first set, Draper became increasingly compromised in the second set and the 15th seed decided to make peace after Alcaraz led 7-5 6-1.

Draper is proud of his improved recovery and must hope he doesn’t cause any further damage that could affect the rest of the season.

The Spaniard, who can now face Novak Djokovic, said: “It’s not the way I wanted to go. Obviously I’m happy to play another quarter-final but feel a bit sad for Jack.

“He’s a very good guy and he shouldn’t have been injured. He wasn’t ready at the start of the season. I’m pretty sure he’ll come back stronger like he always has and I just wish him a speedy recovery.”

With Djokovic once again getting his favorite night playing time, Draper was not helped by the schedule as he was forced to play in the heat of the tournament’s warmest day.

Draper revealed after beating Aleksandar Vukic in the decider tiebreak at 1am on Saturday that he has been working with a breathing coach to try to improve his endurance.

He expected to be sore, and Draper certainly wasn’t looking his liveliest, but he saved four break points in his first two service games.

Alcaraz then gave the British number one two chances to lead 4-2, but the Spaniard was not at his best.

At 5-3, his fourth and fifth double faults of the set, plus two errors, allowed Draper to break serve, but a forehand pass sealed the victory, with Alcaraz winning the match. There were 21 unforced errors in this game.

Draper then called his coach and left the field, and Alcaraz used the time to talk to coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The 21-year-old picked up the pace early in the second set and it became increasingly clear that Draper was in trouble.

He couldn’t even try to chase the ball, and after sitting briefly late in the set, he wisely decided not to continue.

The win meant Alcaraz reached his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final before the age of 22, equaling an Open era record and joining Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and The ranks of Bjorn Borg.

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