British number one Jack Draper fought back from a set down to come through a tricky last-16 encounter with Alexei Popyrin and keep alive his hopes of a maiden title at Queen’s.
Draper had breezed through his opening match against Jenson Brooksby on Tuesday, raising hopes he could follow in Andy Murray’s footsteps and win his home tournament.
Those hopes will have been increased further after the 23-year-old dug deep to overcome world number 21 Popyrin, who knocked Novak Djokovic out of last year’s US Open.
The gruelling encounter in the west London sun went the distance but Draper came out on top in a thrilling third-set tie-break to progress 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5) , with the Briton punching the air in delight after sealing the win with an ace.
Draper’s win means there remains the prospect of an all-British quarter-final.
He could next face Dan Evans if the former British number one beats American Brandon Nakashima in his last-16 match later on Wednesday.
Draper deals with the pressure to grind out win
All eyes have been on Draper this week as he takes on the pressure of being the great British hope with Wimbledon approaching, but the 23-year-old has said he is comfortable dealing with that weight of expectation.
And this performance was exactly the sort he needed to show he is capable of coming through difficult situations.
Popyrin had needed three sets to overcome compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in his opening match on Tuesday but there were no signs of fatigue from that as he claimed the opening set of this match.
The crucial moment came in the seventh game when Popyrin saved two break points, before turning the tables on Draper by winning the next 11 points to instead secure the crucial first break and then the opening set.
Draper let out a roar of frustration early in the second set as things continued to go against him with a double fault, but dug in to swing the momentum his way, winning four successive games to take the contest to a decisive third set.
There it could have gone either way and, after Popyrin saved two match points at 5-4 down and then took the set to a tie-break, it looked like Draper’s hopes were about to come to an end when his opponent got the first mini-break.
But, roared on by another packed centre court crowd at Queen’s, Draper took three successive points before sealing the victory with a thunderous ace.