'A huge step' - Draper reaches first Queen's semi-final

Jack Draper is into the semi-finals at Queen's for the first time

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.

The 23-year-old revealed after the match he had held the Queen's trophy as a child around 12 years ago, and will now hope to hold it as a winner this weekend.

"It's something I've wanted since I was a little kid," said Draper, whose semi-final starts at 13:00 BST on Saturday.

"I do have photos on my phone with the trophy when I was what must have been 10.

"It's always been a tournament that I have watched alongside with Wimbledon.

"Having Andy [Murray] win here many years on the trot or whenever he did, just gave it a bit more of a special feeling to me."

Draper is bidding to become the first British singles champion at Queen's since five-time winner 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.

Alcaraz will meet compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut in Saturday's second semi-final after the 37-year-old knocked out fourth seed Holger Rune 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2.

'Obsessed' Draper relishing return to top four

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 electronic 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.

Draper 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.

"It's a definite huge step for me," Draper added.

"I remember last year going in ranked around 30 or 40. To be inside the top four come Wimbledon one year around, that's massive progress.

"I live and breathe the sport, and I'm obsessed with progressing and obsessed with becoming the player that I want to become all the time and achieve the things I want to.

"It's another step in the right direction."

Alcaraz makes quicker progress after last-16 epic

Carlos Alcaraz is looking to follow up this month's French Open win with victory at Queen's

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 once Alcaraz got the break at 5-5 in the first set he was always up against it as the former world number one got stronger as the match went on.

"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.

"I thought I would be feeling worse than I am right now but as tennis players we have to do what we have to do and that's to recover and play the next day."

Fearnley's run comes to an end

Jacob Fearnley is now ranked 60th in the world, having been outside the top 500 a year ago

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.

Lehecka then continued the momentum in the second set, getting another double break to go on and seal the win and his place in Saturday's semi-finals.