Late racquet swap propels Draper into Queen’s last eight

British number one Jack Draper made the brave move to switch racquets at a crucial moment of the match, and he did so with two brilliant shots to defeat Alexei Popyrin in a third-set tie-break and advance to the quarter-finals at Queen’s.

Before the pair engaged in a decisive fight, the 23-year-old had recovered from a set-down against the Australian to win the second set.

As Popyrin claimed the opening mini-break but managed to get himself level at 5-5, Draper decided to take a risk.

He claimed that his bag had one racquet that was slightly higher than the others.

“The ball just flew a little bit off my racquet at a number of points during the match,” I said.

I pondered, “It’s 5-5 in the tie-break, give myself a chance on his serve, and see what happens if I get too high in the tension.”

After that, Draper scored two points that highlighted why he is ranked among the top ten in the world.

A thunderous ace earned him a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory after first hitting a top-notch backhand winner down the line to advance.

“Draper added two respectable points,” After the game, I told my coach, “Let’s go with that tension now!”

With Wimbledon looming at the end of the month, everyone has been watching Draper this week as he copes with being the great British hope.

The 23-year-old has emphasized that belief with his battling display and said he is comfortable dealing with that weight of expectation.

However, he did it slowly as Popyrin’s run of 11 consecutive points, briefly interrupted by an unanticipated sudden gust of wind that sent a hat and pieces of paper on to the court, led to the Australian winning the first set.

Draper took his time to get back into his groove during his second match in a row, and he revealed that he had been having some health issues this week.

He told BBC Sport, “I haven’t actually been feeling great lately, to be honest, I suppose.”

I was a little flat out there, I thought. Although I was a little cold, my body feels good.

Draper will have his sights set on winning his first Wimbledon title, but he will also need another motivation to keep improving because reaching the semi-finals will place him in fourth place.

That would mean avoiding encounters with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning world champion?

It’s obvious that Draper said, “It’s a big thing.” It would undoubtedly be helpful, in my opinion. But I don’t think I’ll think twice about it at all.

After seeing his racquet soaring into the stands after he had thrown it at the ground and before falling to the ground in his second-round encounter with Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, Jakub Mensik was fortunate to escape being defaulted at Queen’s.

After winning the first set, the 19-year-old Czech was 3-1 up in the second set when he failed to convert a break point.

The eighth seed was charged with a code violation for inappropriate conduct, and despite regaining his composure, he went on to lose 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

After beating American Mackenzie McDonald 2-6 6-1 6-1, the 37-year-old Bautista Agut will face fourth seed Holger Rune.

Second seed Alexander Zverev, third seed Daniil Medvedev, and eighth seed Karen Khachanov won straight sets at the Halle, Germany grass-court tournament, but Stefanos Tsitsipas, the former world number three, was eliminated in the last 16.

An advertising banner struck a female spectator as it fell from the top of one of the stands, breaking Zverev’s match. According to tournament organizers, the woman was taken to a hospital, but she did not suffer any serious injuries.