Second seed Jack Draper avoided a shock exit from the HSBC Championships at Queen’s by ousting Australia’s Alexi Popyrin in a lengthy three-set encounter.
The British No.1 recovered from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), in a testing encounter that lasted more than two hours. Draper had a duo of match points when leading 5-4 in the decider but was denied by Popyrin, who is currently ranked 21st in the ATP rankings. Then in the deciding tiebreaker, the home favourite clawed his way back from a 2-4 deficit by winning six points in a row to seal victory.
“There’s days where I need that extra support, today was one of them. Tough match and credit to Alexei [Popyrin] it was a bit up and down but you guys helped me through that so thank you,” Draper said to the crowd during his on-court interview.
“I think he’s gone to the beer tent but my grandad is here! My family and friends are here and I love being at home and playing in front of them so it’s an emotional moment for me honestly.”
Thursday’s victory at the Queen’s keeps Draper’s hope alive of securing a top-four seeding for Wimbledon, which will begin at the end of this month. He is required to reach at least the semi-final stage in the tournament to achieve this goal. Queen’s is the fifth ATP event where he has reached the last eight this season.
As for his current form on the grass, Draper admits that there is still room for improvement. So far in his career, he has won one title on the surface, which was at the Stuttgart Open last year.
“A little bit, not exactly in the first couple of sets it wasn’t pretty at all,” he replied when asked if he was feeling more comfortable playing on grass.
“I still need some time to adjust to grass but I’m feeling better every time I get through these matches. One more under the belt and I’ll be back on Friday.”
The 23-year-old is now 26-3 against players ranked outside the Top 20 since October.
Also through to the last eight at Queen’s is Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut who defeated Jakub Mensik 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. The 37-year-old has faced a top 20 player 149 times on the Tour but it is only the fifth time he has beaten a player in that category on the grass.
