Carlos Alcaraz’s quest for the Career Grand Slam is still alive at the Australian Open. But his fourth-round match against Jack Draper ended in unexpected fashion. The Spaniard was leading 7-5, 6-1 when Draper was forced to retire, cutting their Melbourne showdown short on Sunday. Alcaraz, the ever-so-humble, reserved a few words for his opponent!

The match had started with Draper pushing Alcaraz into a tight first set. However, after losing the opener, the Briton called for a medical timeout and left the court for treatment. Despite returning for the second set, Draper couldn’t recover and decided to stop at its conclusion. The 23-year-old received a warm ovation from the fans for his efforts throughout the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz showed his class with a message for Draper after the match. The Spaniard wrote on the camera lens, “You will be where you deserve. Get well soon Jack.”

Interesting fact: The two of them were supposed to spend a week training together in the offseason.

Despite ongoing management of a hip injury incurred during the off-season, the cumulative exertion of the past week evidently exceeded Draper’s physiological limits. Then at the Australian Open, he spent 12 hours on court battling through the three longest matches of his career in consecutive rounds to reach the fourth round—his career best run in Melbourne. The British player showed his sportsmanship as he apologized to the crowd by raising both hands before walking off Rod Laver Arena.

In his on-court interview, the World No.3 expressed his disappointment over the way the match ended. He said, “It’s not the way I want to win the match to get through to the next round. I’m just happy to play in another quarter-final in Australia but a little bit sad for Jack, he’s a nice person. He doesn’t deserve to get injured. He couldn’t prepare the start of the season well because of an injury. We should have done a good week of preseason [together], but we couldn’t because of an injury as well. I’m just a little bit sad for him but I’m sure he’s going to come back stronger and I want to wish him a speedy recovery.”

This victory marks Alcaraz’s 10th Grand Slam quarter-final appearance, equaling the Open Era record for the most Grand Slam quarter-finals reached by a man aged 21 or under. But Alcaraz is eyeing a bigger prize. He’s not just focused on records, but on the bigger picture. What lies ahead for him?

If and if not, Carlos Alcaraz bags the Australian Open title

Carlos Alcaraz will now turn his attention to his potential next opponent—either his great rival Novak Djokovic or the 24th-seeded Jiri Lehecka. Their fourth-round clash is set for Sunday’s night session, and the Spaniard is keen to see how it unfolds.

In his on-court interview, the 21-year-old said, “I’m going to watch that one for sure. I have to recover now, as good as I can with my team.I’m going to try to take the time to watch it. That guy called Novak Djokovic, I played a few times against him. Jiri Lehecka as well – it’s going to be a really interesting match to watch and I hope people are going to enjoy that match as much as I do.”

The World No.3 reached the Australian Open quarterfinals last year as well but was stopped by Alexander Zverev, marking his best result at the tournament to date. If he manages to win this year, he will become the youngest player in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam, at the age of 21 years and 266 days on Sunday 26 January 2025.

Only five other men have won the career Slam – Rod Laver (aged 31 years, 18 days), Andre Agassi (aged 29 years, 25 days), Novak Djokovic (aged 29 years, one day), Roger Federer (aged 27 years, 290 days) and Rafael Nadal (aged 24 years, 88 days).

Even if Alcaraz falls short at the Australian Open 2025, he would still have two more opportunities to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Among the six women who have achieved this feat, only Steffi Graf at 19 years, 76 days, and Serena Williams at 21 years, 109 days, were younger than Alcaraz when they accomplished it.

Only Williams and Chris Evert among all players, regardless of gender, have completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open.

With his eyes on history, Carlos Alcaraz’s next steps could be as groundbreaking as his career thus far. Will he keep his momentum going?