Jack Draper overcomes ongoing illness battle to reach Queen’s quarters

Having played two hours and 10 minutes of bang-average tennis, Jack Draper produced five minutes of brilliance to seal a place in the quarter-finals here at Queen’s Club.

The world No 6 trailed big-serving Aussie Alexei Popyrin 4-2 in the deciding set tie-break and after extracting an error he went winner, ace, winner, ace to close out the match 6-3, 2-6, 7-6. He will attempt to reach the semi-finals here for the first time on Friday against American Brandon Nakashima, who beat Dan Evans 7-5, 7-6.

Draper has been feeling under the weather this week and at times looked to be wilting in the energy-sapping 28 degrees Celsius heat. At 2-2 in the second set he double-faulted and reacted with a furious bellow – that seemed to light a fuse and it was a different match thereafter.

‘In the first set I was pretty flat,’ said Draper, 23. ‘He was serving cannons and I felt quite low on energy, I have not been feeling so good.

‘I really got myself going and the crowd picked up on the fact that I needed that energy.’

This felt like a big win in the context of Draper’s home campaign. It leaves him one win away from securing the No 4 seeding at Wimbledon – ensuring he would not face Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner before the semi-finals. It also gives him at least one more match to find rhythm on the grass.

‘To be honest, I don’t think I have been that great,’ said Draper when asked to assess his level this week. ‘I have competed hard, my serve’s been pretty good (he sent 14 aces past Popyrin) but off the ground I have not been that clean.

‘My decision-making could be a lot better. I have just beaten a guy ranked 21 in the world but the tennis I know I can play… there is still a lot of improvement to come.

‘My goal is to peak at Wimbledon. I’m going to give myself a chance each day to get better.’

Draper was too passive for much of this match, his strokes lacking the commitment which is the hallmark of his best tennis. He was poking his double-handed backhand around the court rather than ripping through it – the exception being at 5-5 in the tiebreak when he pummelled the ball down the line, one of only two backhand winners in the match.

He produced his best level when it mattered most and that is what the big boys do. And Draper is a big boy now, both in terms of his stature in the game and his hulking physique, which has been shown off in sleeveless tops on the practice courts this week.

‘I have felt better and better every Grand Slam I have played,’ he said of his physicality.

‘Before, I felt like my energy wasn’t that strong. I felt like I looked like a Ferrari but I was a bit of a Toyota – broke down quite easy. ‘I’m starting to feel generally stronger and confident in myself. Nike gave me a couple of sleeveless shirts so I just pulled them out. It’s not to please anyone.’

His muscles may not bulge as much as Draper’s but Popyrin is equally powerful. His bullet serve and willingness to approach the net make him a tricky proposition on grass.

His next opponent, Nakashima, is a very different player, unspectacular but rock solid. Evans ran the 23-year-old American awfully close but could not quite get it done. On the bright side, the 35-year-old was one of 14 British players to receive a Wimbledon wildcard in Wednesday’s initial announcement. 

Czech two-time champion Petra Kvitova, returning from maternity leave, is the only foreign player to be given a free pass, with one men’s wildcard yet to be assigned.

Three British teenage girls will make their Wimbledon debuts after Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic (both 16) and 17-year-old Mimi Xu were given wildcards. The trio have long been marked out as top prospects and have risen together through the age groups. 

Stojsavljevic won last year’s junior US Open, Klugman reached the final of the French Open earlier this month and Xu won her debut WTA Tour match in Nottingham this week, beating top-100 player Katie Volynets.