Making his debut at the ATP 500 tournament, top seed Carlos Alcaraz has made the most out of his run in London, progressing into a maiden semifinal on the grass.
The world number two powered past 2014 champion Grigor Dimitrov, delivering a solid performance to earn a 6-4, 6-4 victory after one hour and 32 minutes.
After the match, the 20-year-old assessed his performance, stressing: “The work that I put in, the matches that I played [at] a great level helped me a lot coming into this really tough match. Grigor is a top player on every surface, but I would say even more here on grass, he feels the ball really well.”
“I just played really well from the beginning until the last ball,” he added.
Next, the Spaniard will meet the spirited Sebastian Korda - the first American man to reach the last four at the Queen’s Club since 2012 - who took down home favorite Cameron Norrie with a 6-4, 7-6(1) win on Friday.
The 22-year-old is on a comeback trail from injury, competing at his fifth tournament of the season.
An inspiring tennis display sees Korda advancing into his first semifinal on the surface without dropping a set all week.
The other semifinal will feature second seed Holger Rune against World No. 18 Alex de Minaur for a place in the championship match.
The young Dane produced a 6-4, 7-5 win over sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, despite experiencing pain in his right wrist, which required treatment in the first set.
The physical issue could not halt the World No. 6, who recovered to record his third career triumph on the grass, surging into a 12th semifinal at tour level after one hour and 54 minutes.
In his on-court interview, the Danish player outlined: “I think I’m starting to play better and better. [It’s] getting more challenging in every match, and I think my mindset has been incredibly good these three matches.”
“Grass is also tough for the body. First few matches, every part of your body has to get used to it, the movement, the upper body, everything. So I was struggling a bit, but I’m happy I could finish and win a match.”
Meanwhile, the Australian player edged in-form Adrian Mannarino, who stunned third seed Taylor Fritz in straight sets on his way to the quarterfinals by clinching his 10th career Top 10 victory on Thursday.
Despite the small margins separating both players, de Minaur, who launched his campaign in London by outlasting five-time champion Andy Murray, found a way to prevail over his adversary in an eye-catching three-setter battle.
Throughout the two-hour, 21-minute clash, the 24-year-old proved nearly flawless on serve, while his trademark speed and court coverage proved to be a too-strong combination to come across for the Frenchman to overcome.
The Aussie, bidding to capture his second title this season after reaching his second semifinal at the Cinch Championships, will face Rune for a fourth time on tour on Saturday.
De Minaur won their latest encounter in March at the Acapulco semifinals though overall, the 20-year-old leads their series 2-1; all matches took place on hard courts.