Jack Draper is about to replace Novak Djokovic before his Madrid Open quarterfinals against Matteo Arnaldi.

Britain's No. 1 Draper sent his 11th match 6-2 6-2 on Wednesday with his 11th seed Tommy Paul booked his season 1 quarterfinals at the Clay Field ATP 1000 Championship.

The 23-year-old said he was determined to improve his performance on the surface of the season and was a loss for Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz on Tuesday, while Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were not playing in Madrid.

Draper will accept unseeded Arnaldi on Thursday afternoon, who lost his third straight second round last week. If Draper wins, he will surpass Djokovic, who is on the field ranking and enters the top five for the first time.

Djokovic, who has also withdrawn from next week's Italian Open, has not won the championship since the Paris Olympics last summer, losing his opening in four of his last five games despite reaching the Miami Open final in March.

If he reaches the semi-finals, Draper will even be third in the "Turin Contest" rankings, winning the biggest championship of his career so far in India Wells in March and winning another final in Doha last month.

Draper lost in the first round of the French Open last season but felt more confident on the surface and believed that his hard work would pay off as he reached the Madrid quarterfinals.

"I just thought I knew it was just a matter of time until I did good things on clay," Draper told Sky Sports. "I always felt good on the surface when I was younger.

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"Obviously, it's a little different. Trying and continuing to prove to myself and everyone else that I'm a good player, I'm dangerous and feel good.

“On this level, it’s all about motivation and confidence, especially on this surface, I feel like it’s just more games, more time to compete with the best players in the world, and I feel really good.

“Maybe for players from England or players who don’t play on the surface often, they’re going into it with a mindset that won’t be that great, so it can prevent them from further development.

“While I suffered some early losses last year, my goal this year is to prove that I can do well (on clay) and I know if I want to be a top player, then I have to do that.”