LONDON :British second seed Jack Draper defeated Alexei Popyrin 3-6 6-2 7-6(5) to reach the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships on Wednesday, while Czech eighth seed Jakub Mensik lost his temper during defeat to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
Draper won their only previous meeting when he beat Popyrin in straight sets earlier this year on his way to reaching the Qatar Open final, but faced a much tougher battle this time and needed the backing of the home crowd to pull him through.
“There’s days where I need that extra support, today was one of them,” Draper said.
“Tough match and credit to Alexei, it was a bit up and down but you guys helped me through that so thank you.”
Draper found himself trailing when the Australian broke to lead 5-4 and served out to win the opening set but the 23-year-old Briton was unfazed and won four consecutive games to take the second set.
In the decider Draper held two match points with Popyrin serving, but the Australian rallied to win four unanswered points to make it 5-5.
In the tiebreak, Popyrin broke first and Draper responded. The Briton made the decisive break to lead 6-5 and smashed his 10th ace of the match to earn a hard-fought victory. He will face either British wildcard Dan Evans or American Brandon Nakashima.
“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,” Draper added.
Mensik crashed out after his 3-6 6-3 7-5 loss to Bautista Agut, receiving a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct at one stage.
Mensik won the Miami Open in March, beating Novak Djokovic in the final having defeated Bautista Agut in the first round, but at Queen’s the teenager cut a frustrated figure as the 37-year-old Spaniard fought back after going a set down.
The Czech 19-year-old was 3-1 down in the second set and after failing to convert a break point he smashed his racket on the ground which then slipped from his hands and flew into the stands, where luckily there were plenty of empty seats.
The experienced Bautista Agut awaits the winner of the second round tie between Danish fourth seed Holger Rune and American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald.
