Jack Draper produced a gritty performance to continue his run at Queen’s, battling to a narrow 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory over Brandon Nakashima.
The Briton’s performance was far from perfect. He missed eight break points on the day, but recovered from his wobbles to set up a semi-final meeting with Jiri Lehecka, who knocked out Jacob Fearnley earlier in the day, and secure a top-four seeding for Wimbledon.
The British No1, the only home contender still in the tournament, broke the world No32 Nakashima early in the first set and stayed neck-and-neck into the late stages of the second before squandering a final service game to tee up a similarly tense decider, which would again be settled in its latter stages.
He is keeping his feet on the ground ahead of Wimbledon, though, saying the seeding, which guarantees he cannot meet Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz until at least the semi-finals, means little to him.
“I've got to get to the semis first,” he pointed out. “That isn't guaranteed.”
He acknowledged that to be a semi-finalist at Queen’s marked the realisation of a childhood dream, regardless of the less-than-perfect performance.
“To be in the semi-final here is honestly something I have wanted since I was a little kid, so it means everything to me.
“I think it helps to have [the crowd] behind me. Sometimes I have not played some great tennis in those moments, so I have just really tried to believe in myself and that is where the confidence comes from from the start of the year, and that has carried me through really, so hopefully that can carry on to the next round and I can play a bit better.”
Draper’s assessment of the match was an honest one. He suffered a major wobble as he led late in the first set, falling to 40-0 in his final service game before battling back through three deuces to clinch the opener.
The second set was a decidedly tense affair, as Draper seemed to have his energy sapped by the beating west London sun. He brushed with disaster early on, frustrating Nakashima as he rescued a break point.
Neither man could mount much of a response to the other’s serves through the second set, with a string of four games flying by in barely a quarter of an hour without so much as a deuce.
Some clumsy errors from Nakashima allowed Draper an opportunity to strike, but he let those chances go begging. The American was more than willing to punish his wastefulness, winning a crucial late break to force a third.
Draper rallied when required in the decider, claiming what proved to be a match-winning break to lead at 4-3.
Nakashima held serve to keep his Queen’s hopes alive before threatening a break of his own as Draper served for the match. The Briton fell to a 30-0 deficit early on but dragged himself back to deuce. After missing eight break points in the tie, nothing was given as he forced a first match point of the day, but he made no mistake, finishing strong to confirm his progression.
