Britain’s Jack Draper is thru to the quarter-finals on the Queen’s Membership Championships, after a shocking defeat of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 6-3.
A good first set with no break factors noticed Draper excel in a tie-break to clinch it 7-3 and declare the opening set, earlier than storming by way of the second to steer 5-2 with two match factors on the Alcaraz serve.
The Spaniard recovered to carry from there, however Draper then held his nerve, serving out the match for victory.
Spanish celebrity Alcaraz, who gained the French Open earlier this month, had not been overwhelmed in seven weeks or misplaced a match on grass in nearly two years.
However Draper served discover that he’s prepared to combine it within the higher echelons of the sport by changing into the primary British man to beat a top-two participant on grass since Andy Murray in opposition to Novak Djokovic within the 2013 Wimbledon ultimate.
“It was a really tough match,” stated Draper. “Carlos is the defending champion, he gained Wimbledon, he is an unbelievable expertise and wonderful for the game.
“I needed to come out and play nicely and fortuitously I did.
“There’s no place I’d rather be right now, with my family, my friends and the British support. I’ve got my grandad here, who’s just turned 80, he’s doing well.”
Draper grew to become the brand new British No 1 on Monday, having secured the primary ATP Tour title of his profession by beating Matteo Berrettini within the Stuttgart Open ultimate on Sunday.
Draper will play American fifth seed Tommy Paul, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, within the quarter-final.
With prime seed Alcaraz now out, second seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Grigor Dimitrov are already eradicated as nicely, as are sixth, seventh and eighth seeds Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert.
Alcaraz had no complaints in regards to the end result as his 13-match unbeaten streak on grass got here to a shuddering halt.
“I’m not too good right now. I felt like I didn’t play well, I didn’t move well,” he stated.
“Of course I have to give credit to Jack. I think he played really good tennis today,”
Draper was joined within the final eight by one other Briton, wild card Billy Harris.
The 29-year-old journeyman from Nottingham, who normally travels to lower-tier tournaments in his camper van, has made an enormous breakthrough this week.
He celebrated the information that he had been given a wild card for Wimbledon – and a assured £60,000 pay day – by beating French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 7-5.
Harris stated: “It’s massive for my confidence. I came into this match knowing it would be tough with his serve.
“The video games went fast and I needed to hold my focus. I bought the breaks once I wanted them and I believed I performed nicely.
“I didn’t know how I’d react to coming out here but as soon as I came on court I got great support from the crowd and they helped me through the match.”
There was extra British success within the doubles as Joe Salisbury and American companion Rajeev Ram beat scratch pairing Sebastian Korda and Alex De Minaur.
Within the quarter-finals, Salisbury will face one other Briton, Neal Skupski, who’s taking part in alongside New Zealander Michael Venus.
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