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Jack Draper is a perfectionist in every sense of the word, which means that for the third consecutive match he departed the court quite unimpressed by the level of tennis he demonstrated. There were, after all, quite a few self-sabotaging concentration lapses, his forehand was too erratic and he did not always seem comfortable moving on the slick grass.
In the most important moments, however, when the match hung in the balance, the 23-year-old locked in and produced his best tennis. Once again, the British No 1 held his nerve in the final stages of a tough three-setter as he defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at Queen’s Club for the first time in his career.
The victory means Draper will return to his career-high ranking of No 4 on Monday, securing him a top-four seeding at Wimbledon. At a time when almost every player wishes to avoid an early meeting with Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, he cannot face either of the world’s top two before the semi-finals.
However, a meeting with Alcaraz here remains on the cards. One day after his own dramatic three-set win, as he recovered from 2-4 in the final set to defeat Jaume Munar in a three-hour, 26-minute marathon, Alcaraz, the top seed, returned to the semi-finals at Queen’s Club with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Arthur Rinderknech. Alcaraz has won 16 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of his career.
Afterwards, Alcaraz stressed how difficult it was to recover less than 24 hours after such a tough match. “Could be better, honestly, but I thought I was going to feel much worse than I feel right now,” the world No 2 said. “But we are tennis players, we have to do whatever we have to do just to recover, to be in good shape the next day. I’m just feeling great. I’m glad that today was one hour, 20 minutes. Today was more grass [than clay], so I’m just happy and hopefully tomorrow I’m going to feel much better.”
For Draper the past few days have, in some ways, emphasised just how much things have changed over the past year. Although he has broken new ground this week by reaching a first semi-final at Queen’s Club, he still feels some way from producing his best. “The level of what I’m playing could be more consistent, definitely better,” he said. “I think it will come. The more I practise, the more I play, I’m getting a little bit better each time. I don’t know when it will come together, but still doing well to be in the semis. Day by day, we’ll see.
While he has previously been able to produce his best level from the beginning of the grass season, Draper is still finding his feet after enduring his first full clay-court season and the significant efforts it took for him to adapt his game to suit a completely different surface.
“It’s just such a hard adjustment,” said Draper. “I really tried on the clay to play a certain way, to be aggressive in the back court, to be tough from the back of the court, and I spent probably like a month and a half on the clay. This is still [early] because I didn’t practise too much before the tournament with certain things. I’m sort of going by ear out there a little bit, and I’m trying to become more and more comfortable on the grass. When you get more comfortable in the movement, more comfortable in what you’re trying to do out there, it just starts clicking.”
During the decisive moments, though, the confidence that Draper has gained over the past few years has been plain for all to see and every match affords him the opportunity to further improve his level on grass as he attempts to peak in time for Wimbledon. Draper will next face the talented Czech Jiri Lehecka, who ended the excellent run of the British No 2, Jacob Fearnley, with a 7-5, 6-2 win.
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Elsewhere, the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, released his first music single, Polvere e Gloria (Dust and Glory), with the famous Italian vocalist Andrea Bocelli. Alongside Bocelli’s singing, Sinner reiterates parts of his past speeches during trophy ceremonies. On Thursday, the same day the song was announced, Sinner suffered his first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 in nearly two years, losing in three sets to Alexander Bublik in the second round of the Halle Open.
In Nottingham Katie Boulter’s bid for a hat-trick of titles came to an end as she was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 by McCartney Kessler. The British No 2 and eighth seed secured a service break early in the deciding set but the American stormed back to reach the semi-finals.
