Late racquet swap propels Draper into Queen's last eight

A bold decision to change racquet at a crucial point of the match paid off for British number one Jack Draper as he delivered two brilliant shots to edge a third-set tie-break against Alexei Popyrin and reach the quarter-finals at Queen's.

The 23-year-old had recovered from a set down against the Australian to take the second set before the pair battled all the way in the decider.

Draper had found himself behind in the tie-break as Popyrin claimed the first mini-break but got himself level at 5-5, which is when he decided to take a risk.

"I had one racquet in my bag which was a bit of a higher tension than the others," he said.

"There had been quite a lot of points during the match where the ball just flew off my racquet a little bit.

"I thought, it's 5-5 in the tie-break, give myself a chance on his serve, if I go up in the tension, let's see what happens."

What happened next was that Draper played two points that underlined why is ranked inside the top 10 in the world.

He first hit a superb backhand winner down the line to move ahead before a thunderous ace sealed a 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5) victory.

"I played two pretty good points," Draper added. "I said to my coach after the match, let's go with that tension from now on!"

Draper will next face Brandon Nakashima on Friday after the American beat former British number one Dan Evans 7-5 7-6 (7-4) later on Wednesday.

Draper shakes off illness to grind out win

All eyes have been on Draper this week as he takes on the pressure of being the great British hope with Wimbledon approaching at the end of this month.

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

He did, however, start slowly as a run of 11 consecutive points for Popyrin - briefly interrupted by an unexpected sudden gust of wind that sent a hat and bits of paper on to the court - led to the Australian taking the first set.

It was the second match in a row where Draper has taken his time to get into his groove and he revealed he had been struggling a bit with illness this week.

"I've not been feeling great actually, to be honest, the last day and a half," he told BBC Sport.

"I was a bit flat out there. My body feels good but I was a bit under the weather."

Draper will have his eyes firmly set on claiming a maiden title at Queen's but he will have another incentive to keep progressing as reaching the semi-finals will mean he is seeded fourth at Wimbledon.

That would mean avoiding facing the likes of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner.

"It's obviously a big thing," Draper said. "I think it would definitely help. But at the same time, I don't think I will think about that at all.

"I can't control who I'm playing, can't control any of those things, but I can control what I do between now and the next match, and I'll prepare the best I can."

Angry Mensik's racquet bounces into stands

Jakub Mensik was fortunate to escape being defaulted at Queen's after seeing his racquet fly into the stands after he had thrown it at the ground and it bounced up towards empty seats during his second-round match with Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

The 19-year-old Czech became visibly frustrated after failing to convert a break point when he was 3-1 down in the second set, having won the first.

The eighth seed was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct and, although he regained his composure, he went on to lose 3-6 6-3 7-5.

The 37-year-old Bautista Agut will next face fourth seed Holger Rune after the Dane beat American Mackenzie McDonald 2-6 6-1 6-1.

Meanwhile, at the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, there were straight-set wins for second seed Alexander Zverev, third seed Daniil Medvedev and eighth seed Karen Khachanov, but former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked out in the last 16.

Zverev's match was interrupted after an advertising banner fell from the upper tier of one of the stands and hit a female spectator. The woman was taken to hospital but did not suffer any major injuries, according to tournament organisers.