‘Means the world to me’ – Draper into first Queen’s semi

Jack Draper fulfilled a childhood dream by reaching his first Queen’s semi-final with a testing three-set victory over American Brandon Nakashima.

The 6-4 5-7 6-4 win guarantees Draper will be a top-four seed in next week’s Wimbledon draw and would therefore not be able to meet world number one Jannik Sinner or defending champion Carlos Alcaraz until the semi-final stage.

Draper, who came through a tough three-setter against Alexei Popyrin in the previous round when he was feeling unwell, found himself in another energy-sapping encounter against Nakashima on a hot day in west London.

Having taken charge of the first set with an early break, the errors crept into Draper’s game and Nakashima raised his level to take the second set and force the absorbing encounter into a decider.

Draper made the key breakthrough in the seventh game of the third set, converting his second break point with a powerful forehand and he then served out victory to set up a semi-final against Czech Jiri Lehecka, who had earlier beaten British number two Jacob Fearnley 7-5 6-2.

“It means the world to me. The support I have received this week has been amazing,” Draper, 23, said. “It’s something I’ve wanted since I was a little kid.”

Draper is bidding to become the first British singles champion at Queen’s since five-time winner Andy Murray’s most recent victory in 2016.

He could be on course to meet top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the final after the world number two beat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-5 6-4.

Draper had got off to the perfect start against Nakashima with an early break but the rest of his day was far from straightforward.

But, as he has increasingly been showing in a year that has taken him to a career-high fourth in the world, he manages to bring out his best tennis in the most difficult moments.

From the second-serve ace that warded off a break to a brave drop shot at 15-40, Draper showed he is not afraid to take risks and this confident approach is paying off here.

Having lost the second set to world number 32 Nakashima when he sent a forehand long, Draper tightened up on his errors in the third and broke serve in the seventh game with one of the stunning forehand winners that have become a hallmark of his game.

He had thought he had sealed the game on the previous point with a backhand but the automatic line call of “out” had been drowned out by the crowd’s cheers.

He had to save a break point while serving for the match at 5-4 but recovered to seal victory after two hours and 22 minutes, delivering a 14th ace during that final game.

“I think at times I’ve not played some great tennis and in those moments I’ve just tried to believe in myself and I think that is where the confidence has come from,” Draper said after reaching a 12th Tour-level semi-final and his fourth of the year.

“Hopefully, I can carry on to the next round and get better.”

He will now play only his second last-four match on home soil after reaching the semi-finals at Eastbourne in 2022.

His progress here will help his preparations for Wimbledon, which starts on 30 June, and the top-four seeding is a bonus for him going into the grass-court Grand Slam where he will be viewed as the great home hope.

“Last year I went there [to Wimbledon] ranked 40th and now I’m fourth. To get to that position is an incredible feeling,” he said. “It is testament to the work me and my team have done and I am proud of that.”

Alcaraz was back on court less than 24 hours after coming through an epic last-16 encounter with compatriot Jaume Munar that was the longest match at Queen’s in 34 years, lasting three hours and 26 minutes.

The impact of that initially showed as he found himself going toe-to-toe with Rinderknech in a close first set.

Frenchman Rinderknech had gone out in qualifying but returned as a lucky loser and upset American Ben Shelton in his first match.

He certainly played with a nothing-to-lose attitude, serving particularly well, but Alcaraz got the break at 5-5 before coming through his serve to take the first set.

From then on it was clear Alcaraz had no desire to be on the court for much longer, earning the break in the fifth game of the second set with a brilliant forehand winner down the line before seeing out the rest of the match to extend his winning streak to 16 matches.

“I am feeling great playing on grass,” said Alcaraz, who is hoping for another Queen’s title to add to his 2023 victory before embarking on his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title.

Fearnley had been playing in his first last-eight match of an ATP Tour event after producing a brilliant display against French qualifier Corentin Moutet on Thursday.

But Czech world number 30 Lehecka proved too much for the 23-year-old.

Things had looked promising for Fearnley after he got the first break of the match but the world number 60 gave it up immediately following three double faults.

More mistakes on serve proved costly again as Lehecka got the double break to lead 6-5 before serving out the set.