Wimbledon champion Alcaraz’s reign at Queen’s ends in last-16 loss to Draper

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz suffered an unexpected loss to Britain’s Jack Draper in the round of 16 at the Queen’s Club tournament in London on Thursday. Alcaraz, who is also the reigning Queen’s champion, was defeated 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 by the British number one, marking Draper’s biggest career victory.

Arriving at the grass-court warm-up event fresh from his French Open triumph at Roland Garros, the 21-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz had not been defeated in seven weeks, nor had he lost a match on grass in nearly two years. However, Draper, aged 22, became the first British male player to defeat a top-two player on grass since Andy Murray’s victory over Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final.

During the match, Alcaraz expressed frustration with the automatic shot clock, which pressured him to rush his serves, and voiced his concerns to umpire Mohamed Lahyani. Despite these challenges, Alcaraz acknowledged Draper’s strong performance, stating, “I’m not feeling too good right now. I didn’t play well, didn’t move well. Credit to Jack. He played really good tennis today.”

For Draper, ranked 31st, this significant win followed his maiden ATP title in Stuttgart the previous week. Reflecting on his achievement, Draper commented, “It was a tough match. Carlos is the defending champion, Wimbledon winner, an incredible talent. I had to come out and play well, and fortunately, I did.”

Draper advanced to the quarter-finals where he will face American Tommy Paul, while wildcard Billy Harris also secured a place in the last eight, adding to British success at the tournament.