Alcaraz sweeps past Draper, Gauff and Stearns enter semis

Gauff has guaranteed herself number two in the women’s world rankings with her solid displays in Rome, where she saw off seventh seed Andreeva

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Carlos Alcaraz is feeling good about his tennis after striding into the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jack Draper, which he called one of his best displays of the season so far.

His impressive win over Draper kept alive his chances of a third title of the season and also moved him up to number two in the world rankings behind Jannik Sinner.

The Spaniard also bagged a top-two seeding at the French Open which begins later this month, but in the meantime the four-time Grand Slam winner continues his bid for a first Rome crown.

"I think I started pretty well and I ended the match pretty well as well," said Alcaraz.

"I lost focus a little bit in the second set but it wasn't (for) too long, so it was pretty good. Probably it was one of the most complete matches that I played this year."

Alcaraz had to be at his best to down fifth seed Draper, who put in another strong showing on clay in Italy after losing the Madrid Open final to Casper Ruud.

Draper was trying to become the first British man to reach the last four in the Italian capital since 2016, when Andy Murray was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the final.