Former Miami Open champ Carlos Alcaraz understands the pressures on rising star Jack Draper

Carlos Alcaraz — the “It Guy” of tennis, according to one journalist Wednesday at Hard Rock Stadium — won the Miami Open when he was just 18 years old in 2022, becoming the youngest champion in tournament history.

Now, the modest-yet-fiery world No. 3 tennis star from Spain has a fellow young phenom who could challenge him at Hard Rock — a 23-year-old who defeated Alcaraz last week in a BNP Paribas Open semifinal.

Jack Draper, 23, of Great Britain, burst into the top 10 with the title at Indian Wells, California, and sits just four spots below Alcaraz at No. 7.

The two are on different sides of the week’s draw and could meet in the final. Both spoke Wednesday at the tournament as they prepared for their opening matches later this week.

“The thing that makes his tennis really high right now, the level he plays, he’s solid on every point,’’ Alcaraz said of Draper. “[At] Indian Wells he was really, really solid with a lot of pace on the match with different kinds of shots. He can hit the forehand with a lot of topspin. The backhand is a little bit flat and he serves pretty well.

“But for me, the most important thing is he grew up a lot physically. And for your mind, that’s really, really important because the confidence is even higher. At Indian Wells he played great tennis and mentally he’s strong enough to play at a high level the whole match. That makes him a really tough opponent.”

Draper, a long and lanky lefty at 6-4 and 187 pounds, defeated Miami’s 11th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark to win at Indian Wells. He’s on a six-match winning streak that included fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz, this week’s No. 3 seed.

“It definitely gives me more confidence and more inner belief than I had before,’’ said Draper. “It feels amazing to win a Masters 1000. It feels amazing to beat the players I did. That’s the other thing, beating six players back-to-back-to back — top, top players.

“It’s really important for me to do that. But at the same time I feel like I’ve been building towards this. I feel like I’ve been improving all the time… I feel great. I don’t feel crazy different. I just keep up the hard work, keep on doing what I’m doing and hopefully it keeps on coming together for me.”

Andy Murray, the former British great who is now coaching Novak Djokovic, is someone Draper looked up to for many years and they have become friends.

“When I was younger obviously Andy was probably my biggest inspiration on the tennis side,” Draper said. “I followed all the tennis, but Andy, obviously, being from Britain.. When I’d see him at the national tennis center I’d be in awe of him. And then as I got older with his injury, me being at the national tennis center, I got to know him a lot more and then as I started doing better, being in the same locker room. He’s just a really special guy, someone who is very unassuming. like down to earth. For the amount he’s achieved, he’s just a very nice, funny, unique guy. So to be able to get to know him off the court and sort of experience also as a young player the sort of stuff he does. His perseverance around his injury, his habits, his professionalism was great for me.

“When I see him around, we never talk about tennis, we’re just having a laugh. He’s a great, great guy and one of my biggest inspirations. So to have him back on the tour as a coach, I though we got rid of them, but we haven’t.”

Alcaraz, the former No. 1 who has 17 career victories and more than $39 million in prize money, grinned when he was told he’s one of the main reasons fans pack his matches.

“I’m just really happy to be one of those players who are making people get to the tennis, starting to watch tennis,’’ Alcaraz said. “That’s what I’m trying to do — have a style or type of tennis that people like. I always say, ‘Yeah, I’m playing for myself, for my people,’ but I’m playing also to entertain the people. That’s what I’m trying for every time and just really happy being a player who contributes for tennis and the future of tennis.”

Added Alcaraz: “I’m not going to say the people are just coming here to the tournament to watch my tennis, because every time I’m playing against an opponent, I see a lot of fans cheering for the other guy. Right now we have a lot of players who are fun to watch, which is great.”

Americans galore

World No 13 Tommy Paul, the No. 12 seed at the Miami Open, is one of 17 American men in the main draw, the most since 19 in 1996.

Paul, 27, is not only an American, he’s a South Floridian. He moved to Boca Raton when he was 14, though he grew up playing on the clay courts of Greenville, North Carolina.

Paul, who meets 80th-ranked Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in Paul’s opening match Friday, was asked about the influx of American men this year.

“For me, any time I see a lot of Americans in a draw, I’m happy,” Paul said Wednesday. “It’s cool because a lot of them are training down here in South Florida, so I practice with a ton of them. I’m always rooting for all the Americans.”

The last American man to win the Miami Open was John Isner in 2018. This year, the field includes four Americans among the top 16 seeds. One of them is Fritz, the top American in the tournament and a Miami resident.

“It’s so nice to be able to sleep in my own bed, drive my car to the tournament,’’ Fritz said. “I live in midtown Miami, which is easy access to Boca and Delray, so I can practice with a lot of guys up there. I moved here temporarily in 2021 to see if I’d like it, and I loved it.’’

Paul, who lost to now-eighth-ranked (and Miami Open No. 7 seed) Daniil Medvedev in straight sets last week in the Round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open, said there aren’t “many guys on tour that have [ATP Masters 1000] matches within an hour of their house.’’

“I get to sleep in my own bed and compete at one of the biggest tournaments in the world. That’s special.”

Marquee matches

On Thursday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will begin play against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria on Stadium Court in the third Stadium match of the day. Coco Gauff of Delray Beach will face 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin not before 1 p.m. on Stadium Court in the match before Sabalenka’s.

At night, defending women’s champion Danielle Collins plays the second match on Stadium Court.

This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 6:41 PM.