Latest news with #QueensClub
CNA
2 hours ago
- Sport
- CNA
Draper reaches Queen's semis, seals top-four seeding at Wimbledon
LONDON :Britain's Jack Draper continued his Wimbledon build-up by reaching the semi-finals at Queen's Club for the first time with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat of American Brandon Nakashima on Friday. Draper not only kept himself on track for the prestigious ATP 500 title, but also secured the win that guarantees a top-four seeding at Wimbledon where he will be the big home hope. The 23-year-old was fully tested by world number 32 Nakashima and his powerful game began to misfire as he lost the second set on a baking hot day on Andy Murray Arena. But Draper settled back into the groove in the deciding set and broke serve in the seventh game with one of his trademark forehand pile drivers. The left-hander had to save a break point when serving for the match at 5-4 but recovered to seal victory and set up a clash with Czech Jiri Lehecka who had earlier beaten Britain's Jacob Fearnley 7-5 6-2. "It means the world to me to reach the semi-finals here," Draper, bidding to become the first British player to win the title at the prestigious west London club since Murray won it for the fifth time in 2016. While being ranked fourth means Draper will avoid either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or world number one Jannik Sinner until the semi-finals at Wimbledon, Draper shrugged off the significance of that when asked about it. "I kept getting asked about that by the journalists but I've got to reach the semi-finals first," he said. "But it is an incredible position, I was at Wimbledon last year ranked 40 so to go there as fourth seed is a testament to all the hard work my team has done so very proud of that."
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Draper reaches Queen's semis, seals top-four seeding at Wimbledon
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's Jack Draper continued his Wimbledon build-up by reaching the semi-finals at Queen's Club for the first time with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat of American Brandon Nakashima on Friday. Draper not only kept himself on track for the prestigious ATP 500 title, but also secured the win that guarantees a top-four seeding at Wimbledon where he will be the big home hope. The 23-year-old was fully tested by world number 32 Nakashima and his powerful game began to misfire as he lost the second set on a baking hot day on Andy Murray Arena. But Draper settled back into the groove in the deciding set and broke serve in the seventh game with one of his trademark forehand pile drivers. The left-hander had to save a break point when serving for the match at 5-4 but recovered to seal victory and set up a clash with Czech Jiri Lehecka who had earlier beaten Britain's Jacob Fearnley 7-5 6-2. "It means the world to me to reach the semi-finals here," Draper, bidding to become the first British player to win the title at the prestigious west London club since Murray won it for the fifth time in 2016. While being ranked fourth means Draper will avoid either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or world number one Jannik Sinner until the semi-finals at Wimbledon, Draper shrugged off the significance of that when asked about it. "I kept getting asked about that by the journalists but I've got to reach the semi-finals first," he said. "But it is an incredible position, I was at Wimbledon last year ranked 40 so to go there as fourth seed is a testament to all the hard work my team has done so very proud of that." Alcaraz was following Draper on to court as he took on Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in his quarter-final.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Jack Draper clinches important Wimbledon seeding by reaching Queen's semi-finals
Jack Draper guaranteed himself a top-four seeding at Wimbledon after reaching the semi-finals at Queen's Club for the first time. The British number one battled past American Brandon Nakashima 6-4 5-7 6-4 on the Andy Murray Arena. Draper is now two wins away from becoming only the second home men's singles winner in the Open era – after the man the court is named in honour of. But more importantly, Draper has moved above Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz in the world rankings to a career-high of four. That means at Wimbledon, the 23-year-old can avoid Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the world numbers one and two respectively, until the semi-finals. 'I've got to get to the semis first,' he smiled. 'But last year I went there ranked 40th and now I'm fourth. To get to that position is an incredible feeling. It is testament to the work me and my team have done and I'm proud of that.' In a hard-fought first set Draper saved six break points as Nakashima tried to haul back an early break. Draper then made hard work of taking the opener, finally getting the job done on his sixth set point. In the second set Nakashima eventually converted one of his chances when Draper sent a tired-looking forehand long to take the match the distance. At 3-3 in the decider Draper brought up two breaks points and thought he had made the first with a backhand out wide, but the crowd's cheers had drowned out the automatic line call. However, he thudded the second out of Nakashima's reach, saved two break points as he served for the match and wrapped up another hard-fought win in two hours and 22 minutes. 'It means the world to me, the support I've received this week has been amazing,' added Draper after becoming Britain's first semi-finalist since Cameron Norrie in 2021. 'At times I've not played great tennis but I've tried to believe in myself.' In the semi-finals Draper will face Czech world number 30 Jiri Lehecka, who ended Jacob Fearnley's promising debut run. The British number two looked heavy-legged in an error-strewn 7-5 6-2 defeat. Fearnley was scheduled to play the opening match despite a gruelling three-setter against Corentin Moutet the day before, followed by a win in the doubles – alongside Norrie – over Lehecka and Taylor Fritz. 'Obviously if I'd known I was going to be put on first the day after playing a long match in 32 degrees and playing another doubles match late at night, then I probably wouldn't have played doubles,' he said. 'It's just difficult to predict those things sometimes. It's just about being smart about it, really.'
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Jacob Fearnley knocked out of Queen's quarter-finals by Jiri Lehecka
Jacob Fearnley's Queen's Club run was halted in the quarter-finals in straight sets by Jiri Lehecka. The British number two looked heavy-legged in an error-strewn 7-5 6-2 defeat to the Czech world number 30. Fearnley was scheduled to play the opening match on the Andy Murray Arena despite a gruelling three-setter against Corentin Moutet the day before, followed by a win in the doubles – alongside Cameron Norrie – against Lehecka and Taylor Fritz. Lehecka got revenge for that defeat by preventing Fearnley from becoming the first British man to reach the semi-finals on his Queen's Club debut in 48 years. Fearnley coughed up eight double faults in the first set, including three in both the games in which Lehecka broke his serve. Lehecka struck again for 3-2 in the second after a Fearnley forehand landed a millimetre out and then ran away with the match, wrapping up victory in an hour and 17 minutes.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Carlos Alcaraz beats the heat in epic comeback against Munar at Queen's Club
Carlos Alcaraz had to grit his teeth to prevail in a match that lasted just under three and a half hours. Carlos Alcaraz had to grit his teeth to prevail in a match that lasted just under three and a half hours. Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA On a day of hot heads and high emotion, Carlos Alcaraz proved once again to be a master of escapology in the longest match at Queen's Club for 34 years. With temperatures hovering over 30C on Andy Murray Arena, the Spaniard was 4-2 down in the final set, having lost four games in a row. To add to his sense of peril and woe, his serve was also misfiring and he had just hit his 50th unforced error. Yet he found a way – just as he had during the French Open final earlier this month. Related: Coco Gauff stunned in first match since winning French Open title Advertisement A few minutes – and a series of inspired winners – later Alcaraz was shaking hands with his compatriot Jaume Munar having won 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in an epic that lasted a little under three hours and 30 minutes. It was the longest match at Queen's Club since MaliVai Washington faced Mark Keil in 1991, with the second set alone taking an hour and 42 minutes. As Alcaraz pithily wrote on the BBC TV courtside camera: 'Were we on clay?' The fact Munar was able to hit a barrage of 135mph howitzers on serve told you we were on the green stuff, but nothing else about this match made sense. Alcaraz double-faulted on match point when he had a chance to win in straight sets. His serve was patchy. And while there were the usual moments of genius, this was a day of struggle and strife. However, Munar, the world No 59, was magnificent. Having lost his serve early in the first set after serving three double faults in a row, he happily traded blows from the back of the court and showed granite resolve under pressure. Meanwhile, Alcaraz took out his frustration on his coach Samuel López and complained to the umpire after a time violation as the heat and his opponent's play got to him. Advertisement 'It was a really tough battle, Alcaraz said. 'I struggled a lot mentally and physically. I still don't know how I am standing here but I am really proud to have given myself another chance in the quarter-finals.' This was his 15 consecutive victory, his longest winning streak in his career but Alcaraz said that even he did not know how he was able to turn the match around. 'I just kept fighting, I guess. I didn't give up. I tried to fight and play my best on the return of the serve. But I still don't know.' Earlier, the Frenchman Corentin Moutet lost his temper and his last 16 match to Britain's Jacob Fearnley. This time last year, few outside tennis circles would have heard of Fearnley, a 23-year-old from Worcester. But he steadily climbed into the world's top 50, on the back of a big forehand and thoroughly deserved his 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win which puts him into an ATP Tour quarter-final for the first time in his career. However, the match will largely be remembered for Moutet ranting at the umpire after being given two time violations in the third set – as well as a code violation for ball abuse. 'I am running every day for three hours and you are telling me what I have to do,' he told the umpire. 'I explain it to you and you give me a time violation without listening to me. Oh my God! This guy's crazy. Killing me. You're killing me every day.' Advertisement Katie Boulter survived a real scare against compatriot Sonay Kartal to maintain her hopes of winning a third successive Nottingham Open title. Boulter, who was replaced this week as British No 1 by Emma Raducanu, won her maiden WTA Tour title in Nottingham two years ago and backed it up last summer. She extended her winning run in Nottingham to 12 matches with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 victory against Kartal, the British No 3. Boulter trailed 4-2 in the deciding set and had to save a break point to avoid going a double break behind, with the eighth seed struggling in the heat and consulting the doctor. But she rallied impressively to make it through to a quarter-final against the American McCartney Kessler.
