How do you stop Carlos Alcaraz when he's in this mood?

The Spaniard breaks to love. Draper looks a little deflated.

Draper starts the second set with an error, clipping the net chord with a forehand.

He's trying to big himself up, muttering "come on" under his breath. Momentum is firmly with Alcaraz.

Alcaraz takes the first set with a roar.

He was 4-2 down and had to save two break points as he served for the set, but the scoreboard doesn't tell that story.

Draper will have to come from a set down for the second match in a row if he's going to reach the semi-finals.

Excellent composure from Alcaraz to save two break points.

He finds himself 15-40 down as he serves for the set, and it's all his own fault. At 15-30, he has the opportunity to bury a smash but instead opts for a tame return and Draper buries the winner. But he pulls it back for deuce.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport senior tennis reporter

We all know about Carlos Alcaraz's drop-shot - he's responsible for it coming back en vogue after all.

It's one thing knowing about it, it's another thing stopping it.

Jack Draper is finding that out at the moment.

Alcaraz is dropping - and it's hot.

So far, Draper is probably having the best of the baseline battles but Alcaraz's drop shot and net approaches are proving very effective.

He deploys his drop shot to good effect to take a 15-30 lead and is charging into the net once more as Draper fires the ball well out to set up two more break points.

Alcaraz seizes his opportunity and will serve for the first set.

Oh, that was lovely. Alcaraz has Draper on a string on the opening point, dragging him short before moving into the net for the kill.

Draper pulls him back to 30-15 with some bludgeoning strokes from the baseline and then reads Alcaraz's serve and volley attempt with a beautiful passing shot for 40-30.

Alcaraz, however, holds firm. That game had a little bit of everything.

Draper's advantage is short-lived.

Alcaraz does not take kindly to having his serve broken, racing into a 0-40 lead, and he only needs one of his three break points, forcing the error from Draper with a powerful forehand down the line.

There's a huge fist pump as he heads to his chair.

Draper breaks!

Alcaraz makes two forehand errors before being dragged back and forth across the baseline to give Draper two break points.

The Spaniard saves the first one but double faults on the second.

A rapid hold for Draper. Short and sharp. Time for a quick breather.

* denotes next server

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport senior tennis reporter

Jack Draper is already breathing heavily as he takes a glug of water at the change of ends.

That illustrates how physical a match against Carlos Alcaraz is, particularly on the clay.

You do wonder how much energy Draper has in the tank.

After the breakthrough run in Madrid, he managed a quick trip back home to London before flying out to Rome and getting back down to work.

These elongated Masters events might provide the players with more days off between matches but, with practice and preparation, there isn't the time to switch off.

Alcaraz holds to love and finishes the game in sumptuous style, breezing into the net after a sliced forehand before guiding Draper's return cross court with a delicate one-handed backhand winner. Lovely.

It's going with serve so far.

Lengthy baseline rallies have been the order of the day in the opening three games.

Although as I type, Draper moves quickly into the net to hold to 15.

Boom. Alcaraz has made a point of stretching Draper on his backhand side early in this match and sets up a big smash down the line for 30-15.

He goes after Draper's backhand again on the next point and wins, this time forcing the error.

A comfortable hold for the Spaniard.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport senior tennis reporter

While Draper is still learning his craft on clay courts, Alcaraz was virtually born on them.

The Spaniard grew up playing on the red dirt in Murcia, meaning he moves naturally around a surface which is hard for some to master.

As well as the French Open, he has also won important clay-court titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Barcelona.

Overall he has a 93-19 record on the surface, compared to Draper’s 18-13.

While the thumbs - or hearts - are backing Draper [see 14:16 entry], the head says Alcaraz is the clear favourite.

It's a lively start from both players, trading lengthy cross-court rallies to 15-15.

There's an early double fault for Draper but finishes the game with a vicious serve to safely hold.

Over to the purple-clad Alcaraz.

The warm-up is done. Draper to serve first.

Time for an unscientific poll: thumbs up for a Draper win, thumbs down for Alcaraz.

* denotes next server

Jack Draper is enjoying a successful couple of months.

After winning his first ATP Masters title in Indian Wells, he reached the final of the Madrid Open and is up to fifth in the ATP rankings.

He hasn’t had it all his own way in Rome, however. After comfortable wins over Luciano Darderi and Vit Kopriva, he had to come from a set down to defeat Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the last-16.

He can expect another tough outing today against a player who loves clay: Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard has already won in Monte Carlo and reached the final in Barcelona this season and is the reigning French Open champion. Like Draper, he came through a three-set battle in the last-16, beating Karen Khachanov.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport senior tennis reporter

Going into this European clay-court swing, Jack Draper had won nine of his 20 matches on the red dirt.

The general feeling was, however, he did possess the attributes to become a good player on the surface.

Building up his physical durability - having struggled with fitness issues in previous seasons - was key to that.

Like most Brits, clay isn't Draper's most natural surface. But he has worked hard on his movement and the ability to slide across the dirt.

Being more mobile means he can get in the right positions to execute his most potent weapons.

Draper's serve - both in terms of power and variety - allows him to start points strongly, but it was the topspin and speed of his forehand that really caught the eye in Madrid.

Alcaraz wins the coin toss and elects to serve receive.

The players are warming up, so we’ll be under way shortly.

In the meantime, we've just learned that Coco Gauff prefers cacio e pepe over carbonara...