Alcaraz in Australian Open quarter-finals after Draper withdraws

Carlos Alcaraz is on a mission in Melbourne. The 21-year-old is hoping to win the only Grand Slam missing from his trophy cabinet this fortnight.

After eliminating Shevchenko, Nishioka and Borges, the Spaniard hasn't spent much time on court since the start of the tournament.

Opposite the world number 3 was Jack Draper, formidable against anyone, but who suffered much more to reach the second week.

The Briton, seeded number 15, only played five-set matches against Navone, Kokkinakis and then Vukic.

After a tight first set that saw Alcaraz pull away at the end of the set, the rest of the match was short-lived.

After a one-sided second set, Draper, 22, withdrew after calling on the physio following the loss of the first set, suffering a hip injury.

With his injury, he qualified the Spaniard for the quarter-finals in Melbourne for the second year running (7-5, 6-1 ab). He will now attempt to reach the last four for the first time in his career. To do so, he will have to overcome Novak Djokovic or Jiri Lehecka.

"Of course, it's not the way I would have liked to qualify. I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals, but also sad for Jack.

He's a good person. He doesn't deserve to be injured; he'll come back stronger, as always. I wish him a good recovery.

Now it's important to recover well. I'll probably watch (the Djokovic-Lehecka match). I've already played against Novak Djokovic several times.

I've also played against Jiri, so I'm sure the spectators will enjoy the match as much as I do. Let's see what happens," commented Alcaraz on the court after his win.