Mutua Madrid Open 2025: Jack Draper defeats Matteo Arnaldi to reach first semi-final on clay
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Jack Draper moves on to the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals after yet another stunning victory against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Sixth seed Draper thrashed the world No.44 6-0, 6-4 in just an hour and 17 minutes to book his place in the final four in Madrid – his first ATP semi-final on clay.
The young Briton will face either 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti or Canadian Gabriel Diallo for a place in his second ATP Masters final of the season and career first on clay.
Draper is now the highest ranked player left in the men’s singles draw at the Madrid Open.
His victory over Arnaldi means that Draper will overtake 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings and break into the top five for the first time. This will make him only the second left-handed player to reach the ATP top five this century alongside Rafael Nadal.
“I felt confident from the first ball," Draper said in his post match interview. "I’ve been building my level over the last week or so. Credit to Matteo as well, he made my life difficult in that second set, but I’m proud of the way I competed today.
"As I’ve got stronger and got better, my forehand’s come into it’s own on all surfaces but this ear on the clay it’s really doing a lot of damage. I’m trying to base my game around that and my serve and getting more and more efficient."
Draper was a level above the Italian in the opening set – his heavy groundstrokes proving too strong for Arnaldi.
The world No.44 – who defeated Djokovic in the second round in Madrid – looked completely lost against the big-hitting Briton and quickly found himself on the back foot having lost the opening service game of the match.
After racing out to a 4-0 lead, Draper broke to love with relative ease before seeing out the set with just over 25 minutes on the clock.
Arnaldi showed signs of life in the second set, managing to up the pace on his first serve to put Draper under more pressure but the Italian was still being made to work hard for every point.
Draper continued to pick away at his opponent’s second serve and despite Arnaldi’s attempts to get crowd going on his side, it wouldn’t take the Brit long to edge in front again. Locked at 2-2 with his first break point of the set, Draper latched on to a poor drop shot with a hammer of a backhand to take full control of the match.
Arnaldi held on to ask the question of Draper at the end of the set, but the Briton stayed cool, calm and collected with a comfortable service game to complete his victory.
