Carlos Alcaraz Was "Worried" Before Facing Jack Draper at Indian Wells

There will be no three-peat for Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells. The two-seed met the surging 13-seed Jack Draper in the semifinal on Saturday but may have lost before the match ever started.

Draper defeated Alcaraz in three sets: 6-1, 0-6, 6-4. After falling behind early, Alcaraz came back strong in the second set and appeared poised to pull off the comeback victory.

However, the drama between Draper and the chair umpire over a video review disrupted Alcaraz's momentum. It gave the 22-year-old time to think, which he had already done too much of early in the day.

In his post-match press conference, Alcaraz said the loss hurt and chalked it up to nerves and worry about facing his red-hot opponent.

"It was difficult today; a lot of nerves in the match. What could I have done better? Just to play my style and, you know, stepping on the court with less nerves. I think that was a big difference," said Alcaraz.

Alcaraz went onto explain that he did not practice well and got frustrated with himself for missing shots. "I didn't approach the match in the best way that I could."

He continued, "So I was nervous during the whole day, in the practice before the match, and I think that affect, you know, to the match."

When asked why he was so nervous, Alcaraz gave an honest answer. "I always say that I have to be focused on myself, on my own game. I think today I was more worried about his level, his game, than myself."

Alcaraz continued, "So I think that's was a big problem to me, that I was always thinking about his weakness than my best things. So when you're thinking more about the opponent than yourself, then it is a big problem."

Alcaraz concluded by saying he had thought about Draper's game all day and was overly-focused on the powerful lefty's game.

Draper will face the 13-seed Holger Rune, who pulled off an upset over Daniil Medvedev on the other side of the draw last night. The two finalists are scheduled to play later today at 5:00 p.m. EST.

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