Jack Draper beat fellow Brit Ryan Peniston in the quarter-finals at Eastbourne
(Picture: Getty Images)Jack Draper is into his first ATP Tour semi-final after beating Ryan Peniston in an all-British affair at Eastbourne.
The 20-year-old knocked out fourth seed Diogo Schwartzman to reach the last eight and he was similarly impressive against his compatriot as he won 6-3 6-3.
It was a busy day for Peniston, who had to return earlier on Thursday to complete, and win, his match against Pedro Martinez after it was suspended overnight.
There was no sign of tiredness as he broke Draper’s serve in the first game of the match and while he lost the opening set, he then found himself a break up in the second. However, Peniston was broken three times in a row and Draper got the job done with his second match point.
“Ryan is an unbelievable player, a great guy, we train together all the time. He’s really good for me,” Draper said in his post-match interview.
“To be a part of [the British success at Eastbourne] is amazing. Everyone’s on the same wavelength, we want to push each other and hopefully we’ll get more people up the rankings.
“I’m getting more comfortable every week. I learned lessons from Queen’s, and I hope tomorrow I can put on a show.”
Peniston’s attention will now turn to Wimbledon where he has earned a wildcard into the main draw after an impressive grass-court season, including a run to the quarter-finals at Queens last week.
Draper meanwhile will be the third British player to have a crack at beating Maxime Cressy at Eastbourne. The American knocked out Dan Evans in the last 16 and booked his place in the semi-finals with a 7-5 7-5 over top seed Cameron Norrie.
The British number one fell at the first hurdle at Queens, against Grigor Dmitrov, and although he started confidently against Cressy to lead 4-2 in the first set, he was broken and then lost his serve again when looking to take it to a tie-break.
With Norrie trailing 5-4 in the second set he saved three match points to hold his serve and level things up, but once again proved unable to force Cressy into a tie-break as he fell to defeat.
The 29-year-old will be the ninth seed at Wimbledon, but Norrie will feel he has something to prove as he looks to progress past the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Harriet Dart’s Eastbourne run also came to an end at the quarter-final stage as two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova eased to a 6-3 6-4 win.
Kvitova knocked out Britain’s Katie Boulter in the previous round and Dart struggled to make any sort of impact on the Czech’s serve, managing just one break point, which she could not convert, all match.
Dart can take plenty of confidence from her performances though over the last few weeks, including wins over Jil Teichmann and Camila Giorgi, as she heads into Wimbledon. The draw at the All England Club takes place at 10am BST on Friday.
