Carlos Alcaraz gets revenge on Jack Draper in Rome, secures No. 2 seed for Roland Garros

A day after becoming the first man born in the 2000s to reach the quarterfinals of every single Masters 1000 event, Carlos Alcaraz kept his run going in Rome, reaching the semifinals in the Italian capital with a 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory against Jack Draper.

And that win had major implications—literally.

The Spaniard is now guaranteed to rise from No. 3 to No. 2 when the new rankings come out next Monday, after Rome, switching spots with Alexander Zverev, who will dip from No. 2 to No. 3.

Those are the rankings that determine the seedings for Roland Garros, so Alcaraz will be the No. 2 seed in Paris, meaning he can't play guaranteed No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner until the final.

Zverev can't be passed for No. 3, so he'll be the No. 3 seed.

The No. 4 seed at the second major of the year will be either Taylor Fritz or Casper Ruud—if Ruud goes on to win the title in Rome he'll snap it up, otherwise Fritz will round out the Top 4.

Draper had beaten Alcaraz in their last meeting, earlier this year in the semifinals of Indian Wells, and early on it looked like another upset might be brewing in Rome as he broke serve for a 4-2 lead.

Alcaraz broke right back—at love, too—and ended up winning the next five games in a row to go up a set and a break at 6-4, 1-0. Draper snapped that streak, breaking back for 1-all, and the two went into a holding pattern until 4-all, where Alcaraz pounced one last time, breaking at love for 5-4 and then serving it out.

"I think the most important thing I did today was not thinking about the result," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "Not thinking if I was up, if I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy on the court—just try to play aggressive, hitting good shots, drop shots, coming to the net. That's what I like to do on the court.

"I think that made the difference today."

Had Draper won the match, the rankings scenario would have been a bit different—he would have secured a rise to No. 4 on the ATP rankings, guaranteeing him the No. 4 seed at Roland Garros, and Zverev could have kept No. 2 by winning the title in Rome.

Up next for Alcaraz in Rome will be either Zverev or Lorenzo Musetti, who played their quarterfinal match on Wednesday night.

Alcaraz actually has a losing overall record against Zverev, 5-6, but he does lead 3-1 on clay. The two haven't played in Rome.

He's 4-1 against Musetti, losing their first tour-level meeting in the Hamburg final in 2022 but winning all four meetings since, including a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory in the Monte Carlo final just a few weeks ago.