Norrie sets up all-British quarter-final at Queen's
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London (AFP)
Cameron Norrie will face fellow British player Jack Draper in the quarter-finals at Queen's after both won their second-round matches on Wednesday.
Norrie ousted fifth-seed Aslan Karatsev 7-5, 6-2 with the Russian unsettled after falling heavily early in the second set.
Teenager Draper, ranked 309th in the world, has rewarded the organisers for giving him a wildcard entry.
He backed up his first-ever win on the ATP Tour -- beating third seed Jannik Sinner on Monday -- with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/0) victory over out-of-sorts world number 39 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
Fellow Britons Dan Evans and Andy Murray could make it a quartet in the last eight if they win their matches on Thursday.
It is the first time since 2005 -- the year Murray made his debut at Queen's -- that Britain has had four players in the second round.
Norrie and Draper also gave the 2,500 spectators -- permitted under coronavirus protocols -- a perfect day in the warm London sunshine.
"This is a step up from my first-round match (a three-set win over Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas)," said Norrie.
"He (Karatsev) was not easy and was coming back quickly at me."
Draper looked down and out in the first tie-breaker but Bublik fluffed two successive serves at 5-4 up and the 19-year-old sealed the set with a rasping backhand down the line.
Bublik resorted to an underarm serve at break point down in the second set, which Draper seized to lead 3-2.
However, the Kazak player broke back when Draper served for the match and forced a tie-break, which the Briton swept 7-0.
"I made a couple of rash decisions serving for the match at 6-5 and you cannot do that at this level," he said.
"It is great to have a couple of thousand people watching me as on the Futures Tour it is one man and his dog."
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