INDIAN WELLS, MARCH 16: Jack Draper ended Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells ATP Masters three-peat on Saturday, toppling the Spaniard to book a title clash with Holger Rune.
Britain's Draper, ranked 14th in the world, held his nerve to beat Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.
Denmark's Rune, ranked 13th, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 over world number six Daniil Medvedev -- who had been runner-up to Alcaraz each of the past two years.
"This one hurts," admitted Alcaraz, who was trying to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles in the California desert.
"I don't want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. It was difficult today, a lot of nerves in the match."
Draper ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the California desert, leaping out of the gate and wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes as Alcaraz failed to get to grips with the left-hander's serve.
The second set was a mirror image of the first as Alcaraz found his range and after fending off a break point with a 137 mph ace in the opening game broke Draper three times to level the match.
"It was a strange match in all honesty," Draper said. "Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace ...
"What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line." �"AFP
