Britain’s Jack Draper is through to the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club Championships, after a stunning defeat of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 6-3.
A tight first set with no break points saw Draper excel in a tie-break to clinch it 7-3 and claim the opening set, before storming through the second to lead 5-2 with two match points on the Alcaraz serve.
The Spaniard recovered to hold from there, but Draper then held his nerve, serving out the match for victory.
Alcaraz’s Queen’s defence is over after a straight-sets defeat to Britain’s Draper
Spanish superstar Alcaraz, who won the French Open earlier this month, had not been beaten in seven weeks or lost a match on grass in almost two years.
But Draper served notice that he is ready to mix it in the upper echelons of the game by becoming the first British man to beat a top-two player on grass since Andy Murray against Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final.
“It was a really tough match,” said Draper. “Carlos is the defending champion, he won Wimbledon, he’s an incredible talent and amazing for the sport.
“I had to come out and play well and luckily 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 became the new British No 1 on Monday, having secured the first ATP Tour title of his career by beating Matteo Berrettini in the Stuttgart Open final on Sunday.
Draper will play American fifth seed Tommy Paul, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, in the quarter-final.
With top seed Alcaraz now out, second seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Grigor Dimitrov are already eliminated as well, as are sixth, seventh and eighth seeds Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert.
Alcaraz had no complaints about the result as his 13-match unbeaten streak on grass came 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 said.
“Of course I have to give credit to Jack. I think he played really good tennis today,”
Draper was joined in the last eight by another Briton, wild card Billy Harris.
The 29-year-old journeyman from Nottingham, who usually travels to lower-tier tournaments in his camper van, has made a huge breakthrough this week.
He celebrated the news that he had been given a wild card for Wimbledon – and a guaranteed £60,000 pay day – by beating French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 7-5.
Harris said: “It’s massive for my confidence. I came into this match knowing it would be tough with his serve.
“The games went quick and I had to keep my focus. I got the breaks when I needed them and I thought I played well.
“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 more British success in the doubles as Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram beat scratch pairing Sebastian Korda and Alex De Minaur.
In the quarter-finals, Salisbury will face another Briton, Neal Skupski, who is playing alongside New Zealander Michael Venus.
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