Italian Open 2025 Day 8 Quarter Final Recap - Perfect Tennis

On day eight at the Foro Italico, the bottom half of the draw played their quarter-final matches with Carlos Alcaraz seeing off Jack Draper, and Lorenzo Musetti taking out defending champion Alexander Zverev.

Both matches had similarities but different outcomes. Alcaraz wobbled but pulled through with a strong finish, whereas Zverev wobbled and never recovered, wasting multiple set points in the opener before losing in straight sets.

In yesterday’s postponed match, Casper Ruud breezed past Jaume Munar to set up a quarter-final against Jannik Sinner tomorrow.

Full recap below.

Day Eight Italian Open 2025 Quarter Final Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Carlos Alcaraz (3)
Jack Draper (5)
6-4 6-4

Lorenzo Musetti (8)
Alexander Zverev (2)
7-6(1) 6-4

Alcaraz Downs Draper

Carlos Alcaraz reached the semi-finals in Rome for the first time by defeating Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4, in a clash that featured six serve breaks.

The third-seeded Spaniard overcame a 2-4 deficit and had a bit of a wobble in the second but ultimately had too much clay prowess to secure the win in one hour and 38 minutes.

The victory, Alcaraz’s 28th of 2025, secures his position as the second seed at Roland Garros, where he is the defending champion, guaranteeing he’ll be in the opposite half of the draw from World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

I’ve watched plenty of Carlos this week. He hasn’t played well, but he has managed to get the job done, and today was probably his best match of the week so far.

If only he could spot serve and improve that shot, he’d find life far easier, and his blend of brilliance and inconsistency wouldn’t get him in as much trouble as it does.

Against Draper, he fired 24 winners to the Briton’s eight but committed 29 unforced errors to Draper’s 18. Fortunately for him, he had a decent-ish return day, and Draper wasn’t clinical on the break points he created, only converting two of eight.

I think the most important thing that I did today was not thinking about the shots at all. Not thinking about the fact that I was down, just trying to do the things that make me happy. On court I just tried to be aggressive, play good shots, drop shots, go to the net. That’s what I like to do on the court, and I think that made the difference today. I played such a high rhythm during the whole match that I didn’t let him dominate or stay long in the rallies. I think that was a really good win today for me, and I’m just really proud about the way I approached the match. Alcaraz on his win.

Match Stats

Jack Draper
Carlos Alcaraz

Winners
8
24

Unforced Errors
17
29

Aces
1
1

Double Faults
2
3

1st Serve %
68% (32/47)
58% (49/84)

1st Serve Points Won
56% (18/32)
61% (30/49)

2nd Serve Points Won
47% (7/15)
58% (18/31)

Break Points Saved
0% (0/4)
75% (6/8)

Service Games
60% (6/10)
80% (8/10)

1st Return Points Won
39% (19/49)
44% (14/32)

2nd Return Points Won
42% (13/31)
53% (8/15)

Break Points Won
25% (2/8)
100% (4/4)

Return Games
20% (2/10)
40% (4/10)

Pressure Points
17% (2/12)
83% (10/1.2)

Service Points
53% (25/47)
60% (50/84)

Return Points
40% (34/84)
47% (22/47)

Net Points
60% (3/5)
76% (13/17)

Total Points
45% (59/131)
55% (72/131)

Match Points Saved
0
0

Max Points In A Row
6
8

Total Games
40% (8/20)
60% (12/20)

Max Games In A Row
2
5

Highlights

Musetti Masters Zverev

Lorenzo Musetti upset defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-6(1), 6-4 in the Wednesday night session at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Fueled by fervent home support, the 23-year-old Italian showcased plenty of resilience, fending off three consecutive set points at 5-4, 40/0 in the first set and another in the same game.

He seized control by dominating the tie-break, winning it 7-1. Zverev held another break point early in the second set, but that was his last, and the Italian secured a key break at 4-4 before closing it out in 2 hours and 9 minutes.

Musetti’s tactical variety was on full display, disrupting Zverev’s rhythm, and his forehand drop shot proved particularly lethal.

However, I am a bit confused by how passive Zverev plays on his forehand on the big points. He should have been able to boss Musetti around in the rallies in these conditions, which he did in certain parts of the match, but at the business end of things, the discrepancy between his backhand and forehand is greater than ever.

He did complain about the balls and being unable to hit winners, and he probably has a point, especially in the nighttime conditions. Still, even if they were flying through the court, I doubt many of his push forehands would have been winners as they’re powder-puff type stuff. Time for a coach who can improve that shot?

There was a full crowd and a full stadium, and that’s a big advantage. All this week, there has been incredible support from the fans. I felt the adrenaline and energy from the first point, even if it was not an easy start, but I managed to come back and find a way, and that’s the key of this match. Of course it was part of the strategy, to try to make things complicated for Sascha because he’s such a good ball [striker]. Especially when he stays a little bit far from the baseline, I took the chance to drop sometimes and it was working well because the court — with the humidity of the night — was not bouncing much. Musetti on his win.